Scientists have long known that two people with similar diets and oral hygiene routines can have vastly different levels of oral health. Researchers explored whether genetics may explain this conundrum in a new study, published in Nature Communications (June 24, 2019).

“The study makes it clear that teeth are part of the body,” lead author Ingegerd Johansson, DDS, a senior professor at Umeå University in Sweden, stated in a press release. “Among other things, we can see that there seems to be a causal link between risk factors for cardiovascular disease and tooth decay.”