Relationship between tooth loss and carotid intima-media thickness in Korean adults.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between tooth loss and sub-clinical atherosclerosis in Korean adults.


METHODS
The subjects were part of a cohort study conducted in Ansan city by the Korea University medical school as part of the Korean Genome project. 749 subjects over than 40 years old were evaluated. After taking panoramic radiography, the amount of tooth loss was calculated. The intima-media thickness (IMT) was assessed by using ultrasonography at the common carotid artery. Traditional cardiovascular risk factors for atherosclerosis were also evaluated. The relationship between tooth loss and the IMT was evaluated using ANOVA with Scheffe's multiple comparison method in univariate analysis. Multiple regression analysis was also performed to determine the significance between the IMT and tooth loss.


RESULTS
With age, tooth loss increased, but there was no significant increase in other traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Univariate analysis revealed the IMT to be positively related with the amount of tooth loss. Regression analysis of the IMT in the anterior and posterior tooth loss revealed that only the posterior tooth loss was significantly related with the IMT at all sites of the common carotid artery (right far wall, P = .015; left far wall, P = .008; right near wall, P < .001; left near wall, P = .001).


CONCLUSIONS
This study verified the positive relationship between the increased tooth loss at the posterior area and the accumulation of atheroma in arteries.
Department of Prosthodontics, Graduate School of Clinical Dentistry, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
Ui-Jung
UJ
Chin
Suk
S
Ji
Su-Young
SY
Lee
Jae-Jun
JJ
Ryu
Jung-Bok
JB
Lee
Chol
C
Shin
Sang-Wan
SW
Shin
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