Statins can reduce inflammation associated with periodontitis (Periodontal disease) .According to a study on sept. 24 in Journal of the American College of cardiology.
In a randomized study researchers evaluated impacts of a high dose Statin on arterial inflammation. They randomly assigned 83 patients with heart disease to take high dose statin for 12 weeks. Patients went under computed tomography and positron emission tomography for four and 12 weeks to help the authors to assess arterial and periodontal activity.
They found among the 59 patients ,those who took the 80 mg of statin daily exhibited significant reduction in gingival inflammation after four weeks. Gingival inflammation improved closely with improvement in atherosclerotic disease.
They mentioned in the research that a link between atherosclerosis and periodontal disease. These results demonstrate that treatments to help reducing inflammation in one of these conditions may help to improve in the others. They also believe in that improving the oral hygiene to help reducing the gingival inflammation may lead to reduce inflammation of the arteries.
“ Statins have beneficial effects beyond their lipid lowering properties,” said corresponding author Ahmed Tawakol, MD, codirector of the Cardiac Imaging Trials Program at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. “Physicians should take this into consideration when discussing antihyperlipidemic treatment options with their patients.”
If you are in the Arlington area, we would love to serve your dental needs, or if you are in or around Loudoun County, please visit our friends at Loudoun Smile Center and Dental Smiles at Purcellville Gateway.

References:
1-The Journal of the American Dental Association (January 1, 2014) 145, 20