Relationship between self-reported periodontal status and skeletal bone mineral density in Japanese postmenopausal women.
OBJECTIVE
Several investigators have linked periodontal disease progression and low skeletal bone mineral density in postmenopausal women. However, little is known about whether self-reported periodontal status is the reflection of skeletal bone mineral density. We investigated whether self-reported poor periodontal status is associated with low skeletal bone mineral density in postmenopausal women.


METHODS
Relationships among self-reported periodontal status, number of teeth remaining, and bone mineral density of the lumbar spine and the femoral neck were evaluated in 253 Japanese postmenopausal women (mean +/- SD, 56.6 +/- 7.7) recruited from the patients who visited our clinic for bone mineral assessment between 1997 and 2003. Self-reported periodontal symptoms included gingival swelling, gingival bleeding, purulent discharge, and tooth mobility at the time of bone mineral assessment.


RESULTS
Analysis of covariance adjusted for age, height, weight, years since menopause, duration of estrogen use, and regular oral care revealed that subjects without periodontal symptoms had significantly higher BMD of the lumbar spine than did those with periodontal symptoms (mean +/- SEM, 0.962 +/- 0.014 vs 0.921 +/- 0.013; P = 0.038); however, there were no significant differences in the number of remaining teeth and bone mineral density of the femoral neck between them. The odds of low spine bone mineral density in subjects with periodontal symptoms was 2.01 (95% CI = 1.15 to 3.50).


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that self-reported poor periodontal status may be associated with low bone mineral density of the lumbar spine in postmenopausal women.
Taguchi
Akira
A
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Hiroshima University Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan. akiro@hiroshima-u.ac.jp
Suei
Yoshikazu
Y
Ohtsuka
Masahiko
M
Nakamoto
Takashi
T
Lee
Kaoru
K
Sanada
Mitsuhiro
M
Tsuda
Mikio
M
Ohama
Koso
K
Tanimoto
Keiji
K
Bollen
Anne-Marie
AM
D044466:Asian People; D015519:Bone Density; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005272:Femur Neck / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008593:Menopause; D008875:Middle Aged; D015663:Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D011859:Radiography