title: Assessing the relationship between dental disease and coronary heart disease in elderly U.S. veterans.
abstract: Several recent studies have shown a link between dental disease and coronary heart disease. The authors studied 320 U.S. veterans in a convenience sample to assess the relationship between oral health and systemic diseases among older people. They present cross-sectional data confirming that a statistically significant association exists between a diagnosis of coronary heart disease and certain oral health parameters, such as the number of missing teeth, plaque benzoyl-DL-arginine-naphthylamide test scores, salivary levels of Streptococcus sanguis and complaints of xerostomia. The oral parameters in these subjects were independent of and more strongly associated with coronary heart disease than were recognized risk factors, such as serum cholesterol levels, body mass index, diabetes and smoking status. However, because of the convenience sample studied, these findings cannot be generalized to other populations.
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan, School of Dentistry, Department of Biologic and Materials Science, Ann Arbor 48109-1078, USA.
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Loesche
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schork
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Terpenning
authors.forename: Y M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Dominguez
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Grossman
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001587:Benzoylarginine-2-Naphthylamide; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000209:etiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000737:chemistry / Q000150:complications; D048909:Diabetes Complications; D005260:Female; D005884:Gingival Hemorrhage / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D019338:Polypharmacy; D012307:Risk Factors; D012463:Saliva / Q000382:microbiology; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects; D013298:Streptococcus sanguis / Q000254:growth & development; D014076:Tooth Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000150:complications; D014728:Veterans; D014987:Xerostomia / Q000150:complications
chemical_list: D001587:Benzoylarginine-2-Naphthylamide; D002784:Cholesterol