Objectives To assess the correlation between chronic periodontitis (CP) and Cardiovascular diseases (CVD).

Methods We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library 2012, Issue 3), MEDLINE (1966 to March 2012), EMBASE (1966 to March 2012), CINAHL (1982 to November 2010), the Chinese Biomedicine Database (1978–2012) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) (1994 to March 2012). Only randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTs aiming to the relationship between chronic Periodontitis and cardiovascular diseases will be eligible and included. Two authors independently assessed articles for inclusion.

Results We included eight studies involving 1302 patients with CVD and 1217 normal participants. All studies mentioned random allocation but provided no description about which methods were used in the published paper. Meta analysis result showed that the chronic periodontitis and coronary heart disease are related closely (OR=1.31 (95% CI 1.13 to 1.62)).

Conclusions Based on the existing evidence in this review, the chronic periodontitis and coronary heart disease are related closely. However, due to the lack of high quality clinical trials, the relationship between the chronic periodontitis and coronary heart disease is controversial and questionable.