Mr Arnold recently visited his dentist to have his teeth cle

Mr. Arnold recently visited his dentist to have his teeth cleaned and checked. While the dentist was cleaning his teeth, there was some gum bleeding. Three days later, Mr. Arnold developed a fever and chills and tachycardia. His physician detected a slight heart murmur. His doctor prescribed antibiotics and suggested that Mr. Arnold continue to have his heart monitored. What was the connection between the dental visit and the illness?

Solution

Poor dental health can lead to many serious health problems. Research studies have shown that gum disease is a risk factor for coronary artery disease and can increase the risk of stroke. The anaerobic bacteria from infected teeth can enter the bloodstream through the soft tissues and the deep gum pockets. Inside the blood vessel it can cause dangerous blockage preventing the blood flow to vital organs. Proper function of the internal organs requires a certain amount of blood flow. If the organs fail to get adequate supply of blood, it leads to serious health conditions like heart disease, kidney failure, and serious form of gum disease called periodontitis. If such block occurs in the blood vessels associated with the brain, a stroke can occur. Other organs like the lungs, and liver  are also vulnerable.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have found samples of periodontal bacteria in atherosclerotic blood vessels indicating that the bacteria from the mouth have hardened as plaque. Normally body\'s immune system inactivates the bacteria entering the bloodstream. Under compromised condition of the immune system, it can lead to life-threatening illnesses progressively.

In Mr. Arnold\'s case, the conditon of tachycardia may be due to the prolonged effect of teeth infection.

Tachycardia is the condition of heart beating faster under resting stage. The normal resting heart beat of adults is 60 - 100 per minute. In patients with tachycardia, the upper and/or lower chambers of the heart beat significantly faster to the rate of 100 beats per minute. At this rate, heart pumps less efficiently and the blood flow is reduced. When the heart is beating faster, the muscles of the heart (myocardium) require more oxygen. Under persisting conditions, the oxygen-starved myocardial cells can die, leading to heart attack (myocardial infarction).

There are three types of trachycardia:

Supraventricular: The electrical signals in the heart\'s upper chambers fire abnormally, which interferes with electrical signals coming from the sinoatrial (SA) node, the heart\'s natural pacemaker. This abnormality speeds up the heart rate. The heartbeat is so fast that the heart fails to fill blood, before it contracts and hence the blood flow to the rest of the body is reduced.

Sinus tachycardia: The heart beats faster than normal but is still steady. The SA node sends out electrical signals faster than normal as a response to conditions like fever, anxiety, drugs, stress, fright, and arduous exercise.

Ventricular tachycardia: The rapid heart rate starts in the lower chambers of the heart, the ventricles. The heart fails to fill with blood prior to contraction and the blood flow to the body is lowered. This condition is induced by lack of oxygen to the heart (due to lack of coronary artery blood flow), cardiomyopathy (the structure of the heart is distorted), medications, and sarcoidosis (inflammatory disease affecting skin and other tissues).