Do clean teeth protect against heart disease?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/sns-rt-us--teeth-heart-diseasebre83i15m-20120419,0,4356382.story

Research in the American Journal of Medicine claim that there is no apparent correlation between heart disease and maintaining clean teeth. Since gum disease happens as a result of bacterial infection, researchers do think that it could possibly be related to strokes or heart attacks by triggering a chronic state of inflamed blood vessels.