Abstract
Background: Oral infectious diseases are typified by dental caries and periodontal diseases and are known to be associated with various systemic diseases. However, clear associations between occlusal disorders and systemic diseases have not yet been established. We investigated the association between an awareness of malocclusion and common diseases in late adolescence. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the data of mandatory medical questionnaires that are a legal requirement of the freshman medical checkup. We collected the data of all the students who completed the questionnaires between April 2017 and 2019. The data were analyzed using the χ2 test and multivariate analysis was performed with a binomial logistic regression model. Results: The subjects were 9098 students aged 17–19 (mean age 18.3 years). The rate of awareness of malocclusion was 2.14% (195 out of 9098 eligible subjects; 160 males and 35 females). These students had significantly greater rates of allergic rhinitis, asthma, and arrhythmia (p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed significant rates of allergic rhinitis (odds ratio [OR] 2.184, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.468–3.250, p < 0.001), asthma (OR 1.843, 95%CI: 1.153–2.945, p = 0.011), and arrhythmia (OR 2.809, 95%CI: 1.083–7.288, p = 0.034) among students with an awareness of malocclusion. Conclusion: We identified close associations between an awareness of malocclusion and systemic diseases including allergic rhinitis, asthma, and arrhythmia in the late adolescent population. These results reinforce the associations between malocclusion and allergic rhinitis and asthma, as well as providing novel insight into the association of malocclusion and arrhythmia. However, further research is necessary to confirm the associations and explore the mechanisms underlying these associations.
Highlights
Oral infectious diseases are typified by dental caries and periodontal diseases and are known to be associated with various systemic diseases
The present study focused on the association between an awareness of malocclusion and common diseases during late adolescence
We focused on malocclusion in adolescence, and our analysis of over 9000 university students identified close associations between the awareness of malocclusion and allergic rhinitis, asthma, and arrhythmia
Summary
Oral infectious diseases are typified by dental caries and periodontal diseases and are known to be associated with various systemic diseases. We investigated the association between an awareness of malocclusion and common diseases in late adolescence. The rate of awareness of malocclusion was 2.14% (195 out of 9098 eligible subjects; 160 males and 35 females) These students had significantly greater rates of allergic rhinitis, asthma, and arrhythmia (p < 0.001). The present study focused on the association between an awareness of malocclusion and common diseases during late adolescence. The possible causes of upper airway obstruction include allergic rhinitis, hypertrophied adenoids and tonsils, congenital nasal deformities, and polyps. These conditions can lead to malocclusion as a consequence of mouth breathing due to nasal obstruction [12,13]
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