Tooth Loss Is Associated With an Increased Risk of Hypertension in Postmenopausal Women

Abstract

Abstract-Tooth loss has been associated with an increased risk of vascular diseases such as coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease. Little is known whether hypertension is an important factor linking 2 phenomena in postmenopausal women. We compared an incidence of hypertension and traditional risk factors for vascular diseases between 2 age-matched groups: 67 postmenopausal women with missing teeth and 31 without missing teeth. In addition to blood pressure, serum concentration of total cholesterol, high-and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides, plasma angiotensin-converting enzyme activity, plasma angiotensin II concentration, plasma renin activity, and resting heart rate were measured as traditional risk factors for vascular diseases. Subjects without missing teeth had significantly lower diastolic blood pressure than did subjects with missing teeth (Pϭ0.021). The former tended to have lower systolic blood pressure than did the latter (Pϭ0.058). There were no significant differences in other variables between subjects with and without missing teeth. The odds ratio of having hypertension in subjects with missing teeth was 3.59 (95% confidence interval, 1.10 to 11.7) after adjustment of obesity, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertriglyceridemia. Our results suggest that hypertension may be an important factor linking tooth loss and an increased risk of vascular diseases in postmenopausal women.

Associations of Periodontal Damage and Tooth Loss with Atherogenic Factors among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

“…Hypertension has been reported to be associated with periodontal disease as latent risks for ischemic heart disease in several studies (7,15,16,20,21) (10,17,18), although we and other investigators (7,15,16,19) …”

“…Periodontal tissue damage may thus be more expected in diabetics with hypercholesteremia, as found in our study. Some (6,9) but not all (7,10,(14)(15)(16)20) previous studies have associated hypercholesteremia with periodontal disease.…”

“…Whether atherogenic factors other than hyperglycemia are linked with periodontal damage, however, is still being debated, and previous studies have reported inconsistent results (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21) …”

“…Some reports associated a high level of HDL cholesterol with a lower risk of periodontal disease (7,10) whereas others found no such association (8,(14)(15)(16)20).…”

Hypertension and periodontal status in Senegalese patients: A case-control study

“…These findings are comforting in that we found a significant relationship (p < 0.001) between CPITN and hypertension after a simple logistic regression, despite the fact that there is a highly significant relationship between tooth loss (p < 0.001) and hypertension, as mentioned in many studies. After Engstrom et al [13] who also found an association marginally significant (p = 0.05), and especially Taguchi et al [14], we can say that the potential frequency of periodontal pockets depends on the number of teeth present in the mouth. In addition, subjects with missing teeth may have more risk of periodontal disease compared to people with no tooth loss; which would result in endothelial dysfunction by oral infection, subsequent route for increased risk of hypertension.…”