Oral health in women with coronary heart disease.
BACKGROUND
Over the last few decades, oral diseases including periodontitis, have been discussed as a possible risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The purpose of this study was to compare the oral health of age-matched women with or without coronary heart disease (CHD).


METHODS
A total of 143 consecutive women, aged 43 to 79 years, with diagnosed CHD underwent a thorough dental examination including a panoramic radiograph and were compared to 50 women, aged 45 to 77 years without CHD.


RESULTS
The number of remaining teeth and pathological periodontal pockets (> or =4 mm) between the groups differed. The women with CHD had 18.9 +/- 8.5 remaining teeth versus 23.4 +/- 6.3 teeth in the control group (P < 0.001). The CHD group had more pathological periodontal pockets compared to the controls, 14.2 +/- 12.4 versus 9.6 +/- 13.3 (P = 0.002), respectively. The mean marginal bone level assessed on radiographs was the same in both groups, while the number of vertical bone defects differed (P = 0.022). Dentures were more frequent in the CHD group than in the controls (27% versus 6%, P = 0.022), as was edentulousness, 10.5% versus 0% (P = 0.017), respectively. Multiple regression analysis adjusted for age, smoking, body mass index (BMI), diabetes, education, and place of birth showed a relation between the number of periodontal pockets and CHD with an odds ratio (OR) of 3.8 (1.68 to 8.74), and a tendency between dentures and CHD, with an OR of 4.6 (0.99 to 21.28).


CONCLUSIONS
This study indicates that women with CHD have worse oral health than those in a comparable group with no history of CHD.
Buhlin
Kåre
K
Department of Periodontology, Institute of Odontology, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden.
Gustafsson
Anders
A
Ahnve
Staffan
S
Janszky
Imre
I
Tabrizi
Farnaz
F
Klinge
Björn
B
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D016301:Alveolar Bone Loss / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000150:complications*; D004245:DMF Index; D003778:Dentures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D010514:Periodontal Pocket / Q000150:complications; D011859:Radiography; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000150:complications