CRP and periodontitis: After the initial publication of the results of a study by Mattila et al.24 indicating that patients with periodontal infections have significant elevations of plasma fibrinogen and white blood cell counts, a subsequent study observed that periodontitis was also associated with other markers of activated inflammation and hemostasis, including CRP.25 The mechanisms by which periodontitis contributes to CVD have not been clearly understood, but there are numerous working hypotheses that will be proved or disproved.26,27