A strong, progressive association between tooth loss and heart disease exists, researchers reported in a recent issue of American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Heart disease was present in 4.7 percent of those without tooth loss, 5.7 percent of those with one to five missing teeth, 7.5 percent of those with six to 31 missing teeth and 8.5 percent of those with total tooth loss, reported lead investigator Catherine Okoro, an epidemiologist in the Division of Adult and Community Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta.
This finding emerged after the researchers adjusted for sex, race and ethnicity, education, marital status, diabetes, smoking status, alcohol consumption, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol and body mass index, Ms. Okoro said.
The researchers analyzed data from 41,891 respondents to the 1999–2002 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey, which involved adults aged 40 to 79 years in 22 states and the District of Columbia. The survey was conducted by telephone.
The investigators noted that the study results are consistent with the results of previous studies that have linked periodontal disease and tooth loss to an increased risk of atherosclerosis and heart attack. However, they said that other studies had not shown an association between oral conditions and heart disease.
Ms. Okoro emphasized that the correlation between tooth loss and heart disease held even when smoking status was considered. "Smoking has strong relationships to both tooth loss and heart disease," she said. "Nonetheless, when we stratified by age group and smoking status, a significant association remained between tooth loss and heart disease among respondents aged 40 to 59 years who had never smoked."
Ms. Okoro said the relationship between tooth loss and heart disease is of considerable public health interest because of the prevalence of both conditions in the general population.
James Beck, Distinguished Professor of Dental Ecology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, offered a note of caution about overinterpreting the study results.
"If you believe that the data are reasonable estimates of the cardiovascular and oral status of those interviewed, then you must understand, as the authors point out, that one cannot determine from this study whether people with poor oral status are at greater risk for cardiovascular disease," he said. "We only know that the two conditions are related to one another."
