Effects of Obesity on Periodontal Disease, General Health

The American Journal of Public Health (2004) editorialized obesity as ‘the public health challenge of our time.' Obesity creates risk for chronic health problems, is associated with increased mortality and, moreover, exists in complexes of multiple, clustered, behavioral risk factors. Genco and Grossi relate obesity to periodontal disease through the pathway of insulin resistance by examining body mass index, fasting insulin levels, and fasting glucose levels among 12,367 non-diabetic respondents to NHANES III (2000, 2005). This research was a retrospective examination of existing electronic dental records to investigate the relationship between obesity and the recorded periodontal disease indicators.

Hypothesis: Subjects with obesity have a higher chance of developing periodontal disease than the control group of patients without periodontal disease.

Objectives: The specific aim of this study was to investigate the association between obesity and the periodontal disease indicators. Methods: In this retrospective study, Year 2009 electronic dental records from the axiUm (Exan Academic, Las Vegas NV) electronic database at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine were reviewed. From those charts, 669 patients were selected, with 369 having periodontal disease.

Results: Of the 669 total patients included in the study, 160 were obese, 335 were male, 283 had a history of smoking, and 84 had diabetes. Logistic regression modeling was used to assess the relationship between periodontal disease and obesity. After adjusting for age and traditional risk factors such as smoking, diabetes and compromised health status, the risk of developing periodontal disease is almost double, with an adjusted odds ratio of 1.985 (95% confidence interval; P = 0.001), for obese individuals.

Conclusion: Obese individuals are almost twice as likely to develop periodontal disease when compared to non-obese individuals. These associations present significant public health importance in light of the worldwide aging population and high prevalence of obesity.