Periodontal conditions and incidence of new cardiovascular events among patients with coronary vascular disease.

Abstract

We wanted to investigate whether periodontal conditions and/or oral care habits are associated with new cardiovascular events among patients with coronary vascular disease (CVD). In this longitudinal cohort study, 1002 inpatients with CVD were included. They were examined regarding prevalence of severe periodontitis, bleeding upon probing (BOP), number of missing teeth and oral care habits. The combined endpoint was defined as myocardial infarction, stroke/transient ischaemic attack, cardiovascular death and death caused by stroke. Survival analyses were carried out after a 3-year follow-up period. Hazard ratios (HRs) were adjusted for known cardiac risk factors using Cox regression. Nine hundred and fifty-three patients completed the 3-year follow-up. The overall incidence of the combined endpoint was 16.4%. Significant HRs for BOP (HR=2, 95% CI: 1.2-3.3), severe tooth loss (HR=1.8, 95% CI: 1.3-2.5), brushing teeth more than once a day (HR=0.6, 95% CI: 0.5-1.0) and use of floss/inter-dental brushes (HR=0.5, 95% CI: 0.3-0.9) were evaluated only in univariate but not in multivariate survival analyses. Patients with severe periodontitis achieved the combined endpoint more often (18.9% versus 14.2%), but the result was not statistically significant after both univariate and multivariate survival analyses. Periodontal conditions and oral care habits are not independent indicators for further adverse events in patients with CVD.