According to a growing body of evidence, gum disease could also play a role in a surprising range of seemingly unrelated health problems.

Heart Disease: Although not everyone with heart disease has gum disease, and not everyone with gum disease has heart disease, there does appear to be a correlation. Whether gum disease is an independent risk factor for heart disease is still being discussed, there are some theories as to how the two might be related.

Cancer: Gum disease and cancer do not, on the surface, appear to have much in common. However, according to a study published in 2008 which investigated tooth loss and cancer in 48,375 men, the authors concluded that there was, indeed, a link between gum disease and cancer. Another, more recent, study involving more than 68,000 adults found a strong association between gum disease and overall cancer risk, the link was also significant between gum disease and pancreatic cancer.