IADR Abstract Archives
Apical Periodontitis May Associate With Cardiovascular Diseases
Objectives: Periodontitis associates with a number of systemic diseases but corresponding links regarding apical periodontitis (AP) are not yet clear. The aim of our study was to investigate possible associations between AP and different systemic diseases reported in the hospital file of a cohort followed-up for 18 years.
Methods: From the original cohort, born 1945-1954 in the Stockholm County in Sweden, 1676 subjects were randomly selected for clinical examination in 1985. Eighteen years later 150 patients were randomly selected for oral re-examination and 120 accepted to participate. Total Dental Index was calculated from full-mouth X-rays to assess oral infection burden. Periapical Index was used to classify severity of AP. Demographic and hospital record data were collected from the Swedish National Statistics Center. T-test, univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and regressions analyses were used for statistics.
Results: From the 120 patients, 41% had AP. The AP patients were older, more often women, smokers/ex-smokers and they had a lower income (p<0.005). They also had more periodontitis and furcation lesions, reflecting in the number of missing teeth and missing molars (p<0.005). From the hospital diagnoses, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) were most common, showing 20.4% prevalence in AP patients. Regression analyses, controlled for age, gender, smoking and periodontitis, showed AP to associate with CVD with odds ratio 3.90 (95% confidence interval 1.20-12.65; p=0.023).
Conclusions: The results confirmed our hypothesis by showing that AP statistically associated with CVD. The finding that subjects with AP also often had periodontitis indicates an increased oral inflammatory burden. Treatment and elimination of chronic dental diseases, periodontitis and apical periodontitis, may thus affect the incidence of CVD, but causality cannot be verified in our study.
Methods: From the original cohort, born 1945-1954 in the Stockholm County in Sweden, 1676 subjects were randomly selected for clinical examination in 1985. Eighteen years later 150 patients were randomly selected for oral re-examination and 120 accepted to participate. Total Dental Index was calculated from full-mouth X-rays to assess oral infection burden. Periapical Index was used to classify severity of AP. Demographic and hospital record data were collected from the Swedish National Statistics Center. T-test, univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and regressions analyses were used for statistics.
Results: From the 120 patients, 41% had AP. The AP patients were older, more often women, smokers/ex-smokers and they had a lower income (p<0.005). They also had more periodontitis and furcation lesions, reflecting in the number of missing teeth and missing molars (p<0.005). From the hospital diagnoses, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) were most common, showing 20.4% prevalence in AP patients. Regression analyses, controlled for age, gender, smoking and periodontitis, showed AP to associate with CVD with odds ratio 3.90 (95% confidence interval 1.20-12.65; p=0.023).
Conclusions: The results confirmed our hypothesis by showing that AP statistically associated with CVD. The finding that subjects with AP also often had periodontitis indicates an increased oral inflammatory burden. Treatment and elimination of chronic dental diseases, periodontitis and apical periodontitis, may thus affect the incidence of CVD, but causality cannot be verified in our study.