ASSOCIATION BETWEEN PERIODONTITIS AND LIVER DISEASE

Recent clinical and scientific evidence confirms the negative impact of long-term periodontitis on the clinical course and progression of various liver diseases. Periodontitis is a chronic, slow-progressing infectious disease of the tooth supporting tissues caused mainly by the gram-negative bacteria Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, Treponema denticola and Tannerella forsythia. These specific pathogens can be easily translocated from oral cavity to the intestine. Disruption of the intestine microbiota composition by orally derived periodontal pathogenic bacteria has recently been suggested to be a causal mechanism between periodontitis and liver disease. Furthermore, both diseases have the ability to induce an inflammatory response and lead to the creation of inflammatory mediators through which they may influence each other. Recent epidemiologic studies have demonstrated that individuals with liver cirrhosis have considerably poorer periodontal clinical parameters than those without cirrhosis. Periodontal therapy in cirrhosis patients favorably modulates oral and gut microbiome, the course of systemic inflammation, cirrhosis prognostic factors, and cognitive function. Therefore, future clinical researches should be focused on detailed examination of the biological mechanisms, strength and direction of the association between advanced liver disease and periodontitis.