Methods: The Copenhagen City Heart Study (CCHS) is a prospective cohort study of risk factors and general health. Participants for the present study were randomly selected from the cohort of CCHS. In total 1,597 individuals aged 20-95 years underwent an oral examination including radiographs. Covariates including smoking, alcohol consumption, body mass index, educational level, income, physical activity, and diabetes were self-reported. In addition gender, age, number of teeth and plaque level were associated to ABL. Radiographs were digitized and measured by a calibrated, blinded examiner. Statistics consisted of multivariate logistic regression analyses examining the cross-sectional relationship between every single variable and ABL adjusting for the effects of relevant covariates. The same tests were applied after stratification for gender and smoking.
Results: Thirty-four were edentulous and another 133 individuals were excluded due to missing data, leaving 1,430 participants for statistical analyses. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed a relation between smoking >20 pack years and ABL (odds ratio, 5.95; confidence interval, 4.08 to 8.68) compared to never smoking. In addition, low number of teeth and high plaque level were associated with ABL. Among men, high educational level (0.47; 0.27-0.82) and high income (0.47; 0.26-0.82) were inversely related to ABL.
Conclusion: The results of the present study indicated that smoking, low number of teeth and high level of plaque were associated with ABL.
Financial support: The Danish Dental Association, the Danish Foundation for Mutual Efforts in Dental Care, the Velux Foundation and the Spies Foundation.