Are Chronic Periodontitis and Gingivitis Associated with Dementia? A Nationwide, Retrospective, Matched-Cohort Study in Taiwan.
Chronic periodontitis and gingivitis are associated with various diseases; however, their impact on dementia is yet to be elucidated. This study is aimed at investigating the association between chronic periodontitis and gingivitis, and the risk of developing dementia.



A total of 2,207 patients, with newly diagnosed chronic periodontitis and gingivitis between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2000, were selected from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan, along with 6,621 controls matched for sex and age. After adjusting for confounding factors, Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to compare the risk of developing dementia during the 10-year follow-up period.



Of the study subjects, 25 (1.13%) developed dementia compared to 61 (0.92%) in the control group. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis revealed that the study subjects were more likely to develop dementia (hazard ratio (HR) 2.085, 95% CI 1.552-4.156, p < 0.001). After adjusting for sex, age, monthly income, urbanization level, geographic region, and comorbidities, the HR for dementia was 2.54 (95% CI 1.297-3.352, p = 0.002).



Patients with chronic periodontitis and gingivitis have a higher risk of developing dementia. However, further studies on other large or national data sets are required to support the current findings.
Department of Psychiatry, Tri-Service General Hospital, School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Nian-Sheng
NS
Tzeng
Chi-Hsiang
CH
Chung
Chin-Bin
CB
Yeh
Ren-Yeong
RY
Huang
Da-Yo
DY
Yuh
San-Yuan
SY
Huang
Ru-Band
RB
Lu
Hsin-An
HA
Chang
Yu-Chen
YC
Kao
Wei-Shan
WS
Chiang
Yu-Ching
YC
Chou
Wu-Chien
WC
Chien
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D055113:Chronic Periodontitis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D003704:Dementia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005891:Gingivitis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013624:Taiwan; D055815:Young Adult