User:DrThomasLevy/sandbox

Recent studies in the dental scientific literature have again raised questions as to the potential negative clinical impact of root canal-treated teeth on heart disease, perhaps giving some renewed support to the focal infection theory felt to have been discredited by many endodontists. Patients with identifiable lesions on root canal-treated teeth have been found to have an increased risk of coronary artery disease. The same bacterial DNA that is seen in documented root canal infections is found in the blood clots that cause heart attacks over 75% of the time. Similarly, another recent study found that heart attack patients had evidence of increased inflammation in their root canal-treated teeth Finally, and most significantly, another study showed that individuals who simply had root canal-treated teeth were substantially more likely to have coronary artery atherosclerosis than individuals without them.