Poor Oral Health as Risk Factor for Community-Acquired Pneumonia

Abstract

Objectives: Considerable evidence exists of the relationship between poor oral hygiene (therefore greater presence of plaque) and risk of pneumonia in special-care populations, including intensive care unit and nursing home settings. However, the effect of poor oral health on the development of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) remains to be established. We assessed the relationship between CAP and oral health in general adult population. Study design: Over 1-year period, 1,336 incident cases of CAP and 1,326 controls were enrolled in a populationbased case-control study. A questionnaire on CAP risk factors that included oral health-related questions, including visit to dentist in the last month, bleeding gums, gingivitis, dental dysaesthesia, dental prosthesis, gumboil in the last month, teeth move or lost, and periodontal disease was administered to all participants. Results: The prevalence of dental dysaesthesia and use of dental prosthesis was significantly higher among patients with CAP than in control subjects (23.3% vs. 19.7%, P = 0.043, and 45.6% vs. 40.8%, P = 0.016, respectively), whereas visit to the dentist in the last month was a preventive factor against the development of CAP (odds ratio 0.71, 95% confidence interval 0.55-0.92, P = 0.008). Results of bivariate analysis were confirmed in the adjusted multivariate logistic regression models. Conclusions: Poor oral health may contribute to a higher risk for CAP in adult patients. Oral hygiene practices are particularly important in subjects with dental dysaesthesia and dental prosthesis. Not only odontologists but also dental hygienists should be aware of the relationship between oral health and potentially severe lung infection.