Sublingual varices in relation to smoking, cardiovascular diseases, denture wearing, and consuming vitamin rich foods.
OBJECTIVE
To identify potential risk factors such as smoking, cardiovascular diseases (CVD), denture wearing, and consuming vitamin rich foods, and its relation to the development of sublingual varices (SLV).


METHODS
This cross-sectional observational study was conducted on patients who attended the Department of Dentistry at The University of Jordan Hospital, Amman, Jordan between February and May 2013. Clinical examinations and inspections of 391 patients (203 males and 188 females), 13-74 years of age were conducted to determine the presence of SLV. Sublingual varices were classified into 2 categories: grade 0 (few or none visible), and grade one (moderate or severe). Frequency distributions of both SLV and risk factors were obtained. Multiple logistic regression analysis and Chi-square test were used to analyze the influence of individual risk factors on the incidence of SLV.


RESULTS
There were 88 subjects (22.5%) who had SLV. In the multivariate logistic regression model, SLV were significantly associated with age (odds ratio [OR]: 2.27, p=0.008) with highest occurrences in the eighth decade of life, gender (OR: 2.74, p=0.001), smoking (OR: 2.93, p=0.002), denture wearing (OR: 2.03, p=0.044), and CVD (OR: 4.01, p=0.00).


CONCLUSIONS
The presence of SLV could be indicative of some potential risk factors including old age, female gender, and denture wearing, and may alert the dental clinician to recognize underlying systemic conditions, particularly CVD.
Faculty of Dentistry, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Oral Medicine and Periodontology, University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan. Tel. +962 (7) 95061513. E-mail. mshayyab@hotmail.com.
Mohammad H
MH
Al-Shayyab
Zaid H
ZH
Baqain
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D002648:Child; D003778:Dentures / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005502:Food; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008875:Middle Aged; D012907:Smoking; D014060:Tongue Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D014648:Varicose Veins / Q000209:etiology*; D014815:Vitamins / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D055815:Young Adult
D014815:Vitamins