Association between asthma and periodontitis: A case-control analysis of risk factors, related medications, and allergic responses

Abstract

Aims: This study aimed to investigate the association between asthma, related allergies and medication use, and the presence and severity of periodontitis among individuals at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry.

Methods: Employing a case-control design, the study analyzed data from 892 patients, half with asthma and half without asthma. Data collection included demographics, asthma history, medication use, allergies, and periodontal examination outcomes, including probing pocket depth (PPD), mobility, furcation involvement, and radiographic bone loss (RBL). Logistic regression models assessed the relationship between asthma and periodontitis, adjusting for confounders.

Results: Asthmatic patients exhibited significantly lower odds of periodontitis (OR = 0.10, p < .001) and were less likely to present with advanced stages (OR = 0.23, p < .001) and grades of the disease (OR = 0.31, p < .001) compared to non-asthmatic patients. The study also found a higher proportion of females in the asthmatic group (67% vs. 51.8%, p < .001). Smoking was identified as a significant factor associated with periodontitis in patients with asthma, with former smokers at more than double the odds (OR = 2.28, p = .035) and current smokers at a slightly lower yet significant odds (OR = 1.87, p = .050). Additionally, asthmatic patients on adrenergic inhalers had an increased likelihood of developing periodontitis (OR = 1.76, p = .045). Allergies to codeine and latex were associated with higher odds of periodontitis, with ORs of 3.41 and 6.09, respectively.

Conclusions: Asthma was found to be associated with lower odds of periodontitis. However, this association appears to be modified by smoking habits and the use of certain asthma medications, which are related to an increased likelihood of periodontitis among asthmatic patients.

Keywords: association; asthma; disease; health care surveys; periodontitis; risk factors.

FIGURE 1

The three separate scatter plots, each visualizing the influence of age (X‐axis) on periodontitis predictability (Y‐axis), with patients grouped by their respective smoking habits. The first scatter plot illustrates the relationship between age and periodontitis predictability for patients with periodontitis within non‐smokers. Each point on the plot represents a patient's age and their corresponding predictability. The second scatter plot provides a similar visualization for patients with former smokers. It also highlights, with statistical significance (p = .035), a general trend of higher predictability for periodontitis in patients of this category. The third scatter plot depicts the same information for patients with current smokers and similarly shows a borderline statistically significant (p = .050) trend of higher periodontitis predictability for these patients.

FIGURE 2

The graph shows the prevalence of stage and grade with asthmatic and non‐asthmatic groups. The percentages refer to the prevalence of periodontitis at these for stages I–IV and grades A, B, and C.

FIGURE 3

Odds of periodontitis in asthmatic smokers versus asthmatic non‐smokers. (A) In asthmatic non‐smokers, an inverse relationship between asthma and periodontitis seems to be occurring. (B) In asthmatic smokers, an almost identical prevalence is noticed in asthmatics compared to non‐asthmatics.