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The Link Between Eye and Oral Health
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The Link Between Eye and Oral Health
Dr. Jennifer Hibberd has kindly answered questions from the recent webinar (link in answer) she was a guest on. I am sharing the questions and her answers. If you have a follow up question, drop them below, and we can forward them on to Dr. Hibberd who is happy to answer them.
This question is very interesting
How is oral health and eye health linked? Can poor oral health lead to the development of vision conditions such as glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and macular degeneration?
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2 Replies
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The Answer from Dr. Hibberd:
There is a biologically plausible and increasingly documented oral–eye connection. The key connection is systemic, not simply anatomical.
The mouth is highly vascularized and periodontal disease can provide a persistent inflammatory stimulus.
Bacteria and bacterial products can enter the circulation, while inflammatory mediators can contribute to endothelial dysfunction, oxidative stress and altered immune signaling.
the oral microbiome contains one of the body’s largest and most diverse microbial ecosystems. Periodontal disease can alter the relationship between the host and this microbial community, potentially increasing exposure to microbial products and inflammatory signaling.
Note: The eye has its own microbiome/immune environment as well.
The eye, especially the retina and optic nerve, depends on extraordinarily fine vascular regulation and metabolic balance, so systemic vascular and inflammatory disturbances can matter. Periodontal inflammation may add to the inflammatory, metabolic and microvascular burden that contributes to diabetic retinal disease.
1. Oral disease ↔ diabetic retinopathy: probably the strongest connection
Diabetes and periodontal disease have a bidirectional relationship. Diabetes increases susceptibility to periodontitis, while significant periodontal inflammation can adversely affect glycemic control and systemic inflammation.
A 2024 systematic review/meta-analysis found that people with diabetes who had periodontitis had approximately 4.5-fold higher odds of diabetic retinopathy than diabetic patients without periodontitis.
you can potentially have a vicious cycle:
Metabolic dysfunction
↓
periodontal susceptibility
↓
periodontal inflammation / dysbiosis
↓
systemic inflammatory burden
↓
worsened metabolic control / vascular dysfunction
↓
microvascular injury
↓
retinal disease
The oral cavity can provide visible and measurable evidence of underlying systemic processes—and oral disease can potentially participate in those same systemic processes.
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The link to the webinar : https://imahealth.org/oral-medicine-the-missing-link-in-whole-body-health/
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