ALTHOUGH ignored by both dentists and physicians for decades, the focal infection theory just would not die. Too often, the connection between dental health and systemic disease, known as the focal infection theory, keeps popping up.

Researchers who were too young to remember this theory of earlier years, rediscovered it on their own. Numerous studies began appearing in medical and dental journals connecting various acute and chronic illnesses with oral health. By the turn of the 21st Century, the focal theory of infection had made a dramatic comeback. Today, it is universally acceptable, yet unfortunately, it is still underappreciated by most physicians.
The focal infection theory is now well-documented, so much so that it is no longer considered just a theory, but a fact. Today, anyone who has a heart problem or an artificial joint is thought to be especially vulnerable to this type of infection, and cannot undergo any dental procedure without first being treated with antibiotics.
Research over the past few years has linked oral flora to a remarkable number of health problems. Besides the most obvious infections of the jawbone, sinuses, eyes, head and neck, some of the best documented include heart disease, atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), arthritis, lung infections, osteoporosis, diabetes, and adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Since 2000, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a detailed report from the Surgeon General on oral health. In this report, the connection between oral health and systemic disease was clearly outlined and documented.
Although accepted by essentially all physicians and dentists, focal infections are not given as much attention as they deserve. One reason for this is that doctors feel antibiotics are an easy solution to secondary infections. Another reason is that most doctors fail to recognise the extent to which focal infections, or bacteria, can be responsible for such things as heart attacks or strokes. When you heard this for the first time, you probably thought it sounded bizarre, and you may have had doubts.
In less than one minute after a dental procedure is carried out, microorganisms from the infected site may have reached the heart, lungs and peripheral capillary system. People with gum disease are three times more likely to suffer a heart attack as those without gum disease. Those with periodontal disease are twice as likely to suffer from coronary artery disease as those without periodontal disease, and people with severe gum disease are twice as likely to suffer a stroke.
Persons with Type 2 diabetes are three times more likely to develop gum disease than non-diabetic individuals. The cardiovascular system includes the heart and blood vessels. It is cardiovascular research that has given us the most extensively documented evidence for the focal infection theory. The focal infection process is clearly seen with infective endocarditis (an infection of heart lining and heart valves). As far back as 1965, the Journal of Periodontal Research reported that 20 per cent of people with existing heart problems who have dental work done, including routine tooth cleaning, develop bacterial endocarditis within several weeks after their dental visit. The infection can destroy heart valves, leading to heart infection, so they are required to take antibiotics before and after they have dental work done.
In the case of mitral valve prolapsed, rheumatic heart disease, congenital heart defects, and heart murmurs, antibiotics may also be administered as a precaution whenever dental work is preformed, because it is known that oral bacteria can easily attack and infect an already weakened heart.