I have gum disease. I've had the cleanings and will have surgery soon. Approx. 3 yrs prior to my first perio cleaning I had (have) chest discomfort. I have recently learned that gum disease is related to heart disease. ARG.
After my initial cleaning the discomfort went away. The discomfort has returned within this past month or so.
I must say this discomfort is not a pain - more like a gassy feeling right over the heart. Although sometimes I experience stronger stinging pains that last a few seconds then pass. Otherwise, I feel this sensation all day.
Today I had another perio cleaning, and my last was this past May. I do not have any other symptoms of heart failure.
I've made the appointment with the cardiologist.
Does anyone else out there have this symptom? What type of damage could this be doing to my heart? Am I doomed at 40? Any advice, imput is greatly appreciated ~

I can't say this is your problem. But what you describe may have been similar to mine.

I linked my chest pains, muscle/joint pains, urinary problems, headaches etc., to my mercury-silver dental amalgams. The chest pains for me would be near the heart, but they did not feel like they were on the heart. It seemed to be near the sterum, where the ribs connected to the center. Before I linked this problem to my dental amalgams, I could reduce or eliminate the pain two ways. This was determined after years of experimentation. One way, was with my calcium/magnesium pills, the other way was to expand the chest cage and hold the breath as long as possible. The stretching of the muscles seemed to do the trick.

Many years ago, this pain would come a few times a year - not that often - but when it did, you felt awful. It would start in the chest and migrate towards the chin. You wondered if you would be able to take your next breath. This would last for me about a half of an hour during each occurrence.

Again, I can't say if this is your problem, but I describe it just in case it might help. By the way, the amalgams also caused for me numerous gum problems. Note also that this condition and its relationship to dental amalgams is not understood by a large percentage of the medical community. You can read about this on the internet.

Today I'm mostly cured of these problems. I've been free of these mercury fillings for about nine years.

Rhody,
Hmmm very interesting....I know that I have felt 'tightness' up the neck before. I am also sure that I have a few lingering old metal fillings. The odd thing is I can feel this all day long, but the pain only comes once in a while.
I will say that one would think heart prob. related to perio/gum disease would mean that the oral situation must be really bad, like I have read in some of the posts here today.
I have no swollen, bleeding gums (that I am aware of) No pus oozing, and no open sores etc. Just a few deep pockets.
Thank you for your input, I'll check into that possiblity.
Many thanks~