A study by scientists from the Yale University School of Medicine found changes in mouth bacteria preceded the development of the inflammatory lung condition in hospital patients. The team followed 37 subjects over a month. They found patients on ventilators who developed pneumonia had experienced a significant shift in the ‘bacterial composition’ in their mouths beforehand. Lead author Dr Samit Joshi told ELS Global Medical News, that their findings may improve the way we prevent pneumonia in the future by maintaining the bacteria which live within our mouths.

Coronary heart disease patients with no teeth have nearly double the risk of death as those with all of their teeth, according to research published today in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.1 The study in more than 15 000 patients from 39 countries found that levels of tooth loss were linearly associated with increasing death rates.