Orthopedic surgeons are starting to understand the oral systemic link and the importance of having a healthy mouth before any kind of joint-replacement surgery.
Oral pathogens can enter the bloodstream and infect the prosthetic joint (25, 26). Infection of a prosthetic joint can cause total failure and result in serious complications including amputation.
Physicians and dentists have known for a long time that oral bacteria can infect artificial heart valves (40).