Your mouth could hold the secrets to a longer and healthier life

The Wall Street Journal featured the expertise of Frank Scannapieco in an article about how scientists are increasingly studying how issues that start in the mouth may contribute to chronic inflammation elsewhere in the body. A study he co-wrote, published in 2023, found that a preventive dental visit in the year before hospitalization was associated with a 10% lower risk of a type of pneumonia that strikes hospitalized patients, while periodontal therapy within six months was associated with a 30% lower risk. And a review of research he co-wrote concluded that the addition of dental benefits to the Medicare program for diagnosis, prevention and control of oral diseases could improve health and potentially reduce medical costs.