Effect of lifestyle on 6-year periodontitis incidence or progression and tooth loss in older adults.

Abstract

To evaluate the longitudinal association of combined healthy lifestyle factors with incidence or progression of periodontitis and tooth loss in older adults. This 6-year study included 374 Japanese 70-year olds with 7,157 teeth, from a source eligible baseline population of 554 individuals. Four lifestyle factors-cigarette smoking, physical activity, relative weight, and dietary quality-were scored as healthy (1 point) or unhealthy (0 point). Adding the individual scores generated the "healthy lifestyle score" (0-4 points). Multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression models were applied to evaluate tooth-specific associations between the baseline healthy lifestyle score and the incidence or progression of periodontitis (increase in clinical attachment loss ≥3mm) and tooth loss. After 6years, 19.0% of the teeth exhibited periodontitis incidence or progression and 8.2% were lost. Compared with a healthy lifestyle score of 0-1 (least healthy), the highest score (4 points) was associated with a significantly lower tooth-specific risk of periodontitis (adjusted odds ratio=0.32; 95% confidence interval: 0.16-0.62) and tooth loss (adjusted odds ratio=0.42; 95% confidence interval: 0.23-0.77). Simultaneous adherence to multiple healthy lifestyle factors significantly lowers the risk of incidence or progression of periodontitis and tooth loss in older adults.