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. 2022 Jun;57(3):615-622.
doi: 10.1111/jre.12990. Epub 2022 Apr 6.

Regular dental visits, periodontitis, tooth loss, and atherosclerosis: The Ohasama study

Sho Yamada  1 , Takamasa Komiyama  1 , Takashi Ohi  1   2 , Takahisa Murakami  1   3 , Yoshitada Miyoshi  1 , Kosei Endo  1 , Takako Hiratsuka  1 , Azusa Hara  4 , Michihiro Satoh  3 , Yukako Tatsumi  5 , Ryusuke Inoue  6 , Kei Asayama  5   7 , Masahiro Kikuya  5 , Atsushi Hozawa  8 , Hirohito Metoki  3   7 , Yutaka Imai  7 , Takayoshi Ohkubo  5   7 , Yoshinori Hattori  1
Affiliations

Regular dental visits, periodontitis, tooth loss, and atherosclerosis: The Ohasama study

Sho Yamada et al. J Periodontal Res. 2022 Jun.

Abstract

Objective: We aimed to explore the association between regular dental visits and atherosclerosis and between periodontitis, number of remaining teeth, and atherosclerosis among community dwellers in Japan.

Background: Few studies have examined the association between regular dental visits, periodontitis, tooth loss, and atherosclerosis in community dwellers in Japan.

Methods: The participants of this cross-sectional study included community dwellers aged ≥55 years and residing in Ohasama. Exposure variables were regular dental visits; periodontitis, defined as radiographic alveolar bone loss (BL); the Centers for Disease Control/American Academy of Periodontology (CDC/AAP) classification; and number of remaining teeth. The primary outcome was atherosclerosis, defined as maximum carotid intima-media thickness ≥1.1 mm or confirmation of atheromatous plaque.

Results: Of 602 participants, 117 had atherosclerosis. In the multivariate model, compared to those with regular dental visits, the odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence intervals [CIs]) of atherosclerosis among those with the absence of regular dental visits was 2.16 (1.03-4.49). Regarding BL-max, compared with those in the first quartile, ORs (95% CIs) of those in the second, third, and fourth quartiles were 1.15 (0.65-2.30), 0.65 (0.32-1.35), and 1.57 (0.81-3.01), respectively. Regarding CDC/AAP classification, compared to those with no or mild periodontitis, ORs (95% CIs) for those with moderate and severe periodontitis were 2.48 (0.61-10.1) and 4.26 (1.01-17.5), respectively. Regarding the number of remaining teeth, compared to those with ≥20 teeth, ORs (95%CIs) for those with 10-19 and 1-9 teeth were 1.77 (1.004-3.12) and 0.96 (0.52-1.80), respectively.

Conclusion: The absence of regular dental visits and presence of periodontitis are associated with atherosclerosis among community dwellers in Japan.

Keywords: alveolar bone loss; atherosclerosis; epidemiology; periodontitis; regular dental visit; tooth loss.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

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