Poor oral health may lead to worse outcomes after heart transplantation, highlighting the importance of developing consistent dental care standards for transplant candidates. This study was recently published in Oral Diseases.
Furthermore, severe gum disease was linked to a higher risk of sepsis in heart transplant patients, the authors wrote.
“These findings emphasize the critical role of pre-transplant dental screening and intervention,” wrote the authors, led by Katharina Theresa Obermeier of the Ludwig Maximilians University in Germany (Oral Dis, November 27, 2025).
The study included 72 adult patients who received heart transplants in Germany between 2014 and 2019. Only patients with a preoperative panoramic x-ray from the department and at least five years of follow-up were eligible, they wrote.
Researchers collected data on transplant indications, dental status, and postoperative outcomes, including decayed, missing, or filled teeth (DMFT) scores, bone loss, and periodontitis stage. Causes of death were determined from clinical records using standard definitions.
There was a weak positive correlation showing that higher DMFT scores were slightly linked to higher mortality, but this finding was not statistically significant. However, a significant positive correlation was found between the number of periodontal sites and the incidence of sepsis (p = 0.003).
Also, sepsis was significantly associated with higher post-transplant mortality (p = 0.001), they wrote.
A moderate positive correlation was noted between the number of carious lesions and the occurrence of sepsis (p = 0.003). Among the heart transplant recipients who developed sepsis, poor dental status, particularly periodontitis and carious lesions, showed a significant association with septic complications (p = 0.0032).
However, the study had limitations. Periodontal measures like clinical attachment loss were not consistently recorded, which limited how precisely periodontal disease could be classified, the authors added.
“Incorporating structured dental care into transplant protocols may represent a valuable strategy for improving clinical outcomes in this vulnerable population,” they wrote.
