Men with periodontitis, inflammation of the gums and the structures that surround the tooth, are more likely to suffer erectile dysfunction, so a proper brushing of teeth and proper oral hygiene can help prevent male sexual impotence.
This is indicated by a study conducted by researchers from the University of Granada (UGR), belonging to the departments of Surgery and their specialties (Urology) and Stomatology.
Do you know what erectile dysfunction consists of?
According to the UGR in a press release, erectile dysfunction is defined as the inability in man to have an erection due to organic, psychological causes or a combination of both. Defining as an erection the state in which the penis becomes rigid and increases in size, because its internal tissue (corpora cavernosa) fills with blood.
For an erection to occur, a vascular and nervous mechanism triggered by hormonal factors must be set in motion. As mentioned earlier when the cavernous bodies of the penis fill with blood the penis becomes erect. The blood that floods these cavities comes from a series of veins and arteries that run along the circumference of the penis. In the event that these or others that are responsible for supplying them are obstructed or affected by an inflammatory process, the desired erection will not occur.
What is periodontitis?
This disease is a chronic inflammation of the gum with destruction of alveolar bone and connective tissue that surround and support the tooth and leads to loss of it.
What is the relationship between periodontitis and erectile dysfunction? In periodontitis, “the periodontal bacteria or the inflammatory cytokines originating in the gingival focus, damage the vascular endothelium, when this endothelial dysfunction occurs in the vessels of the penis, the blood flow in this organ is impaired, thus hampering erection.”
Therefore, according to the UGR study, maintaining good oral hygiene, with at least two brushes a day and the use of interproximal floss or brushes, could prevent sexual impotence in men, in addition to other conditions such as strokes , diabetes or heart disease, which have been linked to periodontitis in previous studies.
In this study, with 80 cases and 78 controls in patients treated at the Urology Department of the San Cecilio Clinical Hospital of the Health Technology Park (PTS) of Granada, sociodemographic data were collected, performing a periodontal examination and an analytical to measure the testosterone levels, lipid profile, C-reactive protein, glycemia and glycosylated hemoglobin.
The scientists found that 74 percent of patients with erectile dysfunction had periodontitis, so that patients with greater dysfunction had greater periodontal injury. Patients with periodontitis were “2.28 times more likely to suffer erectile dysfunction than periodontally healthy patients.” The biochemical variables that were associated with erectile dysfunction were triglyceride levels, C-reactive protein and glycosylated hemoglobin.
This study, the first carried out on this subject in the European population, was carried out within a doctoral thesis project, whose author was the dentist Amada Martín Amat and its directors, the professors Francisco Mesa (Stomatology) and Miguel Arrabal (Urology).The results have been published in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology, the most important international scientific journal in periodontal research.
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