Premature Death: is Long-Term Periodontitis a Silent Killer?

Objectives: Life expectancy continues to increase, and preventing premature deaths is of the essence. Recent studies have established a connection between low-grade inflammation and increased mortality. Yet the question remains, to what extent does long-term periodontitis contribute to a fatal outcome? This study investigates how long-time periodontitis affects life expectancy and mortality among our subjects.
Methods: The study comprises 1643 patients from the greater Stockholm area, Sweden, initially clinically examined in 1985. Using the Swedish national population and patient registers from 1985–2017 we conducted analyses with patients diagnosed with periodontitis in 1985, periodontally healthy individuals and the cause of death. In addition to descriptive statistics, t-tests were used to test the difference between groups, chi-square to test if the distribution differs from the expected, and logistic regression to evaluate associations between variables.
Results: In the years 1986–2017, disease-related mortality was significantly higher among the periodontitis patients 13.8% (n=39), compared to 7.8% (n=106) among the periodontally healthy (p=0.001) Periodontitis patients passed away significantly more due to neoplasms (7.8%; n=22), compared to non-periodontitis patients (3.9%; n=53) (p=0.004). A significant association was shown between periodontitis and mortality (p=0.013, OR 1.656 Cl: 1.110-2.470) and between periodontitis and mortality due to neoplasms (p=0.012, OR 1.955, Cl: 1.159-3.298). A difference in mortality by cardiovascular diseases, however, could not be found between the periodontitis patients and those who were periodontally healthy in 1985.
Conclusions: In this study long-term periodontitis is linked to premature death and a higher mortality rate, particularly in cancer, compared to the periodontally healthy subjects. These results emphasize the importance of good oral health in systemic health.