Obesity and periodontitis: a link.

Obesity and periodontitis are both diseases that represent significant health problems. Obesity currently impacts approximately one-third of the United States population and periodontitis affects an estimated 50% of the same population, ages 30 and over. It has been suggested that the possible relationship between obesity and periodontitis lies in the diseases' underlying inflammatory processes. The aim of this paper is to present those inflammatory pathways and to review the literature that has examined the association between obesity and periodontitis.