Islamabad: About 19% of the world’s adult population has severe periodontal disease.
Also known as gum disease, this condition occurs when the tissues that hold the teeth in place become infected. If left untreated, periodontal disease can damage the bones in the mouth and eventually lead to tooth loss.
Periodontal disease can also affect other areas of the body. Previous studies have linked gum disease to an increased risk for cardiovascular disease.
Now, researchers from King’s College London have found that a common type 2 diabetes drug can help improve clinical outcomes for non-diabetics with gingivitis as well as prevent bone loss caused by either periodontal disease or ageing. , both in mice and in clinical trials.
This is also not the first study to look at metformin as an anti-aging treatment. Research published in August 2019 found that there is growing evidence to suggest that the drug offers beneficial effects in reducing the risk of age-related diseases.
A study published in April 2021 says that metformin reduces levels of AGEs that are a marker of aging by lowering insulin and blood glucose levels and increasing insulin sensitivity.
First the researchers tested metformin in a mouse model of periodontal disease. After the mouse study, the scientists found that metformin led to a significant prevention of bone loss during induced periodontal disease and age-related bone loss in living mice.
“What surprised me with metformin was that I was able to make my aging animals healthier and (prevent) 50 percent of the bone loss,” Dr. Neves told Medical News Today. When I analyzed this data, it was the (first) time I felt Wow, there really is something here.
Next, Dr. Neves and his colleagues conducted a clinical trial with 20 study participants who all had gum disease but did not have diabetes.
At the end of the trial, the researchers found that the participants who received metformin had improved clinical outcomes in the treatment of gingivitis. In addition, metformin helped control sugar levels and inflammation in the mouth and body even when the bacteria levels were high.
Prevention starts before disease occurs with my animal and patient data showing good metformin results even with high levels of bacteria in the mouth. This raises the question of whether just brushing your teeth is the only way to prevent the development of gum disease throughout our lives, Dr. Neves said. In addition to these surprising findings, my clinical data also show the possible use of metformin to improve the general health of patients with gum disease due to the stabilization of glucose levels, improvement of insulin sensitivity and control of inflammation, he added.
Periodontal disease occurs when bacteria are allowed to build up on the teeth forming a sticky substance called plaque.
Most plaque can be removed with good dental hygiene by brushing twice a day and flossing once a day. If plaque remains on the teeth for too long, it can harden into a material called tartar and can only be removed with a professional dental cleaning.
Plaque and tartar build-up on the teeth can also cause inflammation and infection of the gums leading to gingivitis.
Let’s say that plaque and calculus are not removed from the teeth and gingivitis is not treated. In this case, the infection can travel deeper into the soft tissues around the teeth, potentially causing bone and tooth loss known as periodontitis.
How periodontal disease is treated
The best treatment for periodontal disease is prevention by following healthy oral hygiene practices. This includes visiting a dentist for a professional teeth cleaning every six months.
If periodontal disease has occurred and become severe, a dentist may recommend a deep cleaning where plaque is removed from the areas of the teeth below the gum line.
Severe cases of periodontitis may require medication and surgical treatments.
If you go to the dentist today, the only possible treatment for gum disease is based on cleaning the teeth in the mouth and treating them with antibiotics based solely on controlling the plaque bacteria and food that build up around the teeth, said Dr. Neves at MNT.
The point is that [current treatments for gum disease] treat the disease only from the bacterial angle of the problem, ignoring the inflammation. In addition, available treatments do not help prevent other non-communicable diseases.
Thus, the development of innovative treatments and pathways in health systems that view patients with gingivitis as potential patients for other non-communicable diseases can help reduce the overall burden of the disease worldwide and potentially create a new healthy geriatric generation.
How gum disease affects aging Previous studies show that periodontal disease can affect a person’s systemic or overall health, affecting how well they age.
Periodontal disease is also associated with inflammation, which is chronic inflammation that can occur with aging.
According to Dr. Neves, systemic diseases that affect overall health, such as obesity and the cognitive impairment of diabetes, often begin to affect people from late adulthood to the geriatric stage. However, gum disease starts much earlier around age 30 for everyone.
The diseases I mentioned and gum disease are all classified as non-communicable diseases which means they develop throughout a person’s lifetime. These diseases have also been shown to be associated with people with gingivitis. In other words, people with severe gingivitis are more likely to have these conditions.
What our research suggests is that if we begin to fight gingivitis from a systemic perspective over time, we may be able to combat and prevent the development of other non-communicable diseases that gingivitis patients may develop during of their lives, added Dr. Neves.
The mouth A window to the health of the body
After reviewing this study, Dr. Purnima Kumar, a spokeswoman for the American Dental Association and a professor at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, told Medical News Today that as a clinician who specializes in treating patients with periodontal disease, she initially found this research very interesting.
But it’s also important to keep in mind that these findings are very preliminary and have several caveats, including the fact that the majority of results are reported from animal studies, he said.
