Adults who have lost teeth due to nontraumatic reasons may have a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease according to a presentation at the American College of Cardiology Middle East Conference.

The causal association between oral disease and cardiovascular disease is not well known, so researchers in this study conducted a secondary analysis of the Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System that looked at tooth loss not caused by trauma, as well as cardiovascular disease, including heart attack, angina and/or stroke.

The study included 316,588 participants from the United States and territories between the ages of 40-79. Overall 8 percent were edentulous and 13 percent had cardiovascular disease. The percentage of people who had cardiovascular disease and were edentulous was 28 percent, compared to only 7 percent who had a cardiovascular disease but did not have missing teeth.

According to the study, systemic inflammation caused by oral disease was more strongly associated with the development of CVD in a population of adults who were missing teeth or edentulous (28%) than in those with all their teeth (7%; P = .001).

“Our results support that there is a relationship between dental health and cardiovascular health,” said Hamad Mohammed Qabha, MBBS, lead author of the study and Chief Medical and Surgical Intern at Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University.

“If a person’s teeth fall out, there may be other underlying health concerns. Clinicians should be recommending that people in this age group receive adequate oral health care to prevent the diseases that lead to tooth loss in the first place and as potentially another way of reducing the risk of future cardiovascular disease.”

“There is an independent association between the number of nontraumatic tooth loss and CVD among U.S. residents aged 40 to 79 years,” the researchers wrote in an abstract. “Findings of this study lend to support the recommendation of adequate oral health care in this age group.”

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Reference:

Qabha HM, et al. Abstract P515. Presented at: ACC Middle East Conference; Oct. 3-5, 2019; Dubai, United Arab Emirates.