Abstract
Objectives: Recent studies have implicated periodontal disease as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). We hypothesised an association between established periodontal disease and known CVD risk factors in a representative birth cohort of 26-year-olds.
Methods: Gingival recession (GR) and probing depth (PD) were measured at three sites per tooth (excluding third molars) in two randomly selected contralateral quadrants; clinical attachment loss (CAL) for each site was computed by summing GR and PD. CVD risk factors (Body Mass Index [BMI], waist-hip ratio [WHR], systolic blood pressure) and blood assays (total and HDL cholesterol) were measured, and cardiorespiratory fitness testing was conducted using a submaximal exercise test on a friction-braked cycle ergometer (Monark, Sweden). Of the 914 participants for whom periodontal examinations were conducted, 33 were pregnant and were excluded. Logistic regression modelling (controlling for sex, SES, smoking status, exercise habits and plaque score) derived odds ratios (OR) for being in the highest-risk quartile for each CVD risk factor, and for two composite CVD risk variables (comprising, respectively, 3+ or 4+ of the highest-risk quartile for systolic blood pressure, BMI, WHR, total cholesterol, or cardiorespiratory fitness).
Results: People in the highest tertile for the extent of CAL had greater odds of being in the top quartile for BMI (OR=1.6; 95%CI 1.1, 2.2) or for WHR (OR=1.8; 95% CI 1.3, 2.5). Those with highest-quartile dental plaque scores had 1.5 times the odds of being in the top quartile for BMI (95%CI 1.0, 2.2); other factors showed NS associations. Those in the highest tertile for CAL extent had greater odds of having 3+ CVD risk factors (OR=1.8; 95%CI 1.2, 2.6), but not of having 4+ CVD risk factors (OR=1.2; 95%CI 0.7, 2.1).
Conclusions: These findings do not offer strong support for an association between periodontitis and known CVD risk factors among 26-year-olds.