Selected Abstracts from the Annual Meeting of the Scandinavian Society of Peridontology, Bergen, June 9-12 2011

Abstract

BackgroundOver the last decades, periodontal diseases have been discussed as a possible risk factor for systemic diseases with an inflammatory origin.ObjectiveTo investigate if adult patients with periodontitis attending the dental school in Huddinge, Sweden, had more signs of systemic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, pulmonary diseases, specifically asthma bronchiale, compared to healthy patients or those patients with gingivitis.DesignIn this retrospective study, dental charts were examined where the periodontal diagnoses were known. A total of 325 patients with severe periodontitis and 149 patients without periodontitis born 1928–1968 were identified. The diagnosis regarding the systemic diseases was self-reported. Odd ratios for all cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus and pulmonary diseases were calculated with a logistic regression model adjusted for age, gender, and smoking.ResultsA total of 44.3% of those with severe periodontitis also had cardiovascular diseases, 19.1% had asthma bronchiale and 21.2% suffered from diabetes mellitus. Among the controls 30.9% had cardiovascular disease, 23.5% suffered from asthma and 6.7% had diabetes mellitus. Both among the controls and among those with severe periodontitis hypertension was the most frequent diagnosis. There was a significant association between periodontitis and cardiovascular disease (OR = 1.79 (0.0143)), but not between asthma bronchiale and periodontitis. The risk for diabetes mellitus was greater among those with periodontitis, OR = 2.95 (<0.0001).ConclusionThis study shows that there is an association between periodontitis and certain systemic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus. However, the underlying mechanism is unknown and it is too early to conclude whether periodontitis is a predictor for other systemic inflammatory diseases.