Association between self-reported oral health, tooth loss and atherosclerotic burden

Previous studies have suggested that oral diseases may in- fluence the development of atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that poor self-reported oral health (SROH) and tooth loss are positively associated with coronary atherosclerotic burden (CAB). 382 consecutive subjects undergoing coronary angiography were included. Socio-demographic characteristics, cardiovascular risk factors and oral health status were collected using a standardized questionnaire, including data on SROH and use of dental prosthesis. Number of teeth and anthropometric measures were collected through clinical examina- tions. CAB at coronary angiography was quantified using the Friesinger score (FS). Prevalence ratios (PR) were calculated with Poisson regression analyses. Mean age was 60.3 ± 10.8 years, with 63.2% males. In the bivariate analysis, there was a significant association (p < 0.05) between CAB and age (≥ 60y) (PR = 1.01, 95% CI = 1.02-1.16), male gender (PR = 1.11, 95% CI = 1.03-1.19), smoking (PR = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.01- 1.16), hypertension (PR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.03-1.22), diabetes (PR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.05-1.21), poor SROH (PR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.02-1.46) and tooth loss (< 20teeth present) (PR = 1.10, 95% CI = 1.02-1.19). The use of dental prosthesis was not associated with CAB. The multivariate mod- els, adjusted for age, gender, smoking, hypertension, diabetes and dyslip- idemia showed that poor SROH (p = 0.03) and tooth loss (p = 0.02) were independently associated with CAB, confirming the study hypothesis.