Dentaid: No health without oral health—why prevention starts in the mouth

In this year’s series of interviews for the EFP Partner newsletter, the EFP is looking at the link between lifestyle, nutrition, and oral health synergies and systemic health, which is now hardly disputed. From diabetes to cardiovascular problems, what goes on in the mouth does matter for the rest of the body. So, how are the EFP and its partners dealing with this?

In this interview, we talk to Dr Gabriela Bacchini, Medical Director at Dentaid.

Dentaid has an impressive suite of oral-health products, but it is a huge research outfit too. It boasts a team of over 50 specialists in microbiology, chemistry, and engineering research. Out of that hopefully comes innovative solutions that will help improve people’s oral health, and potentially their systemic health.

A lot is happening in this field, thinks Gabriela Bacchini. “Related to this specific topic, the field has moved from broad epidemiological observations, let's say to a much more structured evidence base.” She gives some examples: “especially for cardiometabolic conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and also important associations reported for some respiratory diseases, all supported by plausible biological pathways.”

Research published recently in the Journal of Dental Research focused on the oral-systemic relationship, underlining how closely oral and general health are connected. “From a biological standpoint, periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disease driven by dysbiosis and a dysregulated host response. There’s growing evidence that it can contribute to systemic inflammatory burden.”

In other words, an imbalance of microbes in the mouth can trigger a dysregulated inflammatory response that may have effects beyond the oral cavity.

This is key to Gabriela Bacchini. If bad oral health is contributing to these problems, what is the solution? “Oral health should be fully integrated into modern preventative healthcare!  We need to translate this message to the public in the way that they can understand this, no?” She continues her theme: “oral health needs evolve across life stages, from infancy through adolescence to maturity and older age, so prevention must be tailored, not one size fits all.”

She cites the EFP’s own Oral Health Throughout Life campaign launched in March 2025, which Dentaid has collaborated on. Considering that in Europe, according to the EFP figures, 77% of adolescents are affected by caries, with 73% showing signs of gum inflammation such as gingival bleeding, this work is vital. 

Lifestyle risk factors

Gabriela Bacchini explains: “I believe this campaign is based on three main pillars. The first one is to control biofilm and gingival inflammation. For example, gum bleeding should prompt action, not normalization. It's not normal that your gums bleed. The second is addressing major modifiable risks, like, for example, tobacco or high sugar exposure. Thirdly promoting integrated care. People should hear consistent messages from dental and medical settings.”

For Gabriela, smoking is one of the worst culprits. However, what goes on in the bathroom and beyond is also important: “Inconsistent daily plaque control can lead to sustained inflammation across time. Sleep and other lifestyle factors are also drawing growing attention for the role they may play in chronic inflammation.”

Should governments and international organisations be doing more on all of this?  “Absolutely yes”, thinks Gabriela Bacchini!  “The World Health Organization has already set the direction some years ago through the World Health Assembly Resolution and the Global strategy and action plan on oral health 2023–2030.”  She goes further: “We all know that the FDI World Dental Federation has also been very active in pushing this agenda forward, encouraging governments to turn these international commitments into real national policies, especially in prevention and access to care.”

This direction is also reflected in the Bangkok Declaration: No Health Without Oral Health!

Indeed, oral health is declared a basic human right, so governments really have a clear responsibility to strengthen prevention, access to care, and integration of oral health into universal health coverage.

Returning to Dentaid, and its proud research history. What is Dentaid itself doing to push the need to link oral and systemic health and what might the future hold?

Beyond its collaboration with the EFP on Oral Health Throughout Life, there is a much more for Gabriela Bacchini showing Dentaid’s commitment.

“I would say that part of our responsibility is also to strengthen credibility by supporting well-grounded science and high-quality communication. And for sure, another real very important pillar for Dentaid is to research and develop solutions that help overcome these barriers to prevention. We Invest in different products, formats, and patient-centred solutions designed around real-world needs.”

Solutions for everyone

What this means is developing solutions for everyone, including those with dental implants, reduced dexterity or orthodontic appliances, as well as people with dry mouth, sensitive gums, or changing oral-care needs across different stages of life. These synergies in oral and systemic health need to lead to co-management of oral health and, for example, diabetes, as Gabriela Bacchini explains. “It’s essential to have referral pathways between oral-health professionals and family doctors, particularly in patients with shared risks such as smoking, diabetes, chronic inflammation, older age, and multimorbidity.”

She also believes that the synergy can work backwards. “Diabetes is one of the clearest examples of a bidirectional relationship. More broadly, some chronic inflammatory and systemic conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, may influence oral-health status and susceptibility to gingival inflammation, gum bleeding, and periodontitis, while cardiovascular disease shares important inflammatory pathways and risk factors with periodontal disease.”

The future is exciting for Gabriela too. “There’s a lot of work going on trying to identify biomarkers and validate them. Looking ahead, salivary biomarkers and AI-supported data interpretation are promising areas of research that may eventually help identify risk earlier and support timelier referral and prevention strategies.”

For that to happen though there will have to be much more synergy between dentists and doctors!