Gender differences in the relation between number of teeth and systolic blood pressure.
BACKGROUND
Tooth loss predicts total and circulatory mortality. The reasons for the increased mortality in subjects with a low number of teeth may be related to enhanced atherosclerosis, elevated arterial pressure and more frequent hypertension. The present study was designed to investigate whether there is an association between the number of teeth and arterial pressure or hypertension.


METHODS
We used data of 4185 adult subjects (2150 women) collected for the population-based Study of Health in Pomerania. The number of teeth was counted by trained and certified dentists. Hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure >or= 140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure >or= 90 mmHg or use of antihypertensive medication. Multivariable analyses were adjusted for relevant confounders.


RESULTS
The adjusted mean (standard error) systolic blood pressure in men having 0-6 teeth was 149.6 mmHg (1.3 mmHg) compared to 142.6 mmHg (1.2 mmHg) in men having 27-28 teeth (P < 0.05). The adjusted odds for hypertension in men with 0-6 teeth compared to men with 27-28 teeth were 1.91 (95% confidence interval 1.21; 3.02, P < 0.05). In women no such relations were found.


CONCLUSIONS
There is an inverse association between the number of teeth and systolic blood pressure and hypertension in men but not in women. The present findings partly explain the relation between tooth loss and mortality.
Völzke
Henry
H
Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, Germany. voelzke@uni-greifswald.de
Schwahn
Christian
C
Dörr
Marcus
M
Schwarz
Sabine
S
Robinson
Daniel
D
Dören
Martina
M
Rettig
Rainer
R
Felix
Stephan B
SB
John
Ulrich
U
Kocher
Thomas
T
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology
D000959:Antihypertensive Agents