This book provides a wide-ranging update on the associations between oral infections and general health. Detailed consideration is given to the underlying mechanisms or pathways linking oral infections to general health, including metastatic spread of infection from the oral cavity as a result of transient bacteremia, metastatic injury from the effects of circulating oral microbial toxins, and metastatic inflammation caused by immunological dysfunction induced by oral microorganisms. The book also reviews the complex structure and development of oral biofilms in health and disease, and the molecular tools that are currently available for their analysis. The advantages and limitations of such techniques, as well as their impact on the future of diagnostics, prevention and patient management, are discussed.

Anne Marie Lynge Pedersen, DDS, PhD, is Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Odontology/Dental Dean in the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Dr. Pedersen graduated in 1992 from the Royal Dental College, Copenhagen, Denmark, and gained her PhD from the University of Copenhagen in 1997 for a thesis entitledSalivary gland dysfunction in patients with primary Sjögrens syndrome. She then joined the Section of Oral Physiology and Oral Pathology& Medicine, Department of Odontology, University of Copenhagen, as a research assistant, and progressed to become head of the department in 2013. From 2009 to 2012 Dr. Pedersen was Vice President and board member of the Scandinavian Division of the International Association of Dental Research (IADR), and she became President of the Division in January 2013. She has also served as an appointed board member of the Danish Dental Association Research Foundation (2007-2013) and acts as a consultant to the Danish Dental Association on topics such as xerostomia, salivary gland function, oral mucosal diseases, and pharmacology. Dr. Pedersen has been the organizerof national and international conferences, seminars, and symposia and is a referee for many leading international scientific journals. She is the author of more than 80 national and international scientific papers and book chapters.

Background Topics: Introduction.- HealthOral Infections and General: Dental Caries and General Health in Children and Adults.- Inflammatory Mechanisms Linking Periodontal Disease to Cardiovascular Disease.- Linkage between Periodontal Disease and Rheumatoid Arthritis.- Linkage between Periodontal Disease and Diabetes.- Association between Dental Infections and Renal and Liver Diseases.- Association between Oral Infections and Cancer Risk.- Oral Candidiasis and the Medically Compromised Patient.- Association between Oral Infections and Salivary Gland Hypofunction.-Future Diagnostic Methods and Techniques: The Oral Microbiome in Health and Disease.- Salivary Microbiota in Oral Health and Disease.-Future Perspectives in Management of Oral Infections:Use of Probiotics in Future Prevention and Treatment of Oral Infections.- Management of Patients with Oral Candidiasis.