Periodontal disease and the incidence of tooth loss in postmenopausal women.
BACKGROUND
The role of periodontal disease as a predictor of incident tooth loss in postmenopausal women has not been determined. The aim of this cohort study was to determine the extent of the association between baseline periodontal status and incident tooth loss in a population of postmenopausal women.


METHODS
The study population included 106 dentate white postmenopausal women who participated in a cross-sectional study between 1989 and 1991 who were willing and eligible to have a repeat examination after 10 to 13 years. At baseline, full-mouth assessment of periodontal status was performed clinically and radiographically. Assessment of tooth loss during follow- up was assessed clinically by a periodontist. Odds ratio (OR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) for each periodontal variable was obtained from separate multiple logistic regression analyses adjusting for the effect of age, household income, smoking, hormone therapy, snack consumption, and number of decayed teeth.


RESULTS
Sixty-one (57.5%) subjects lost at least one tooth during follow-up. Mean tooth loss per person was 1.81 +/- 2.77. After adjusting for confounders, each millimeter of alveolar bone loss at baseline increased the risk of tooth loss 3-fold (OR = 3.26; 95% CI: 1.60 to 6.64). The risk of tooth loss also increased 2.5 times for each millimeter of clinical attachment loss (OR = 2.50; 95% CI: 1.24 to 5.07). Probing depth (OR = 2.53; 95% CI: 0.98 to 6.53), gingival bleeding (OR = 1.99; 95% CI: 0.21 to 18.94), calculus (OR = 2.05; 95% CI: 0.91 to 4.61), and plaque (OR = 0.70; 95% CI: 0.13 to 3.34) were not significantly associated with incident tooth loss.


CONCLUSIONS
Periodontal disease, especially measured by alveolar bone loss, is a strong and independent predictor for incident tooth loss in postmenopausal women.
Tezal
Mine
M
Department of Oral Biology, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA. mtezal@buffalo.edu
Wactawski-Wende
Jean
J
Grossi
Sara G
SG
Dmochowski
Jacek
J
Genco
Robert J
RJ
D000368:Aged; D016301:Alveolar Bone Loss / Q000150:complications*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D017622:Periodontal Attachment Loss / Q000150:complications*; D010512:Periodontal Index; D017698:Postmenopause; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000209:etiology*