Department of Periodontology, County Hospital of Gävle-Sandviken, Gävle, Sweden.
J Periodontol. 2012 Mar;83(3):287-91. doi: 10.1902/jop.2011.110100. Epub 2011 Aug 23.
Periodontal disease has been associated with cardiovascular disorders with an atherosclerotic background, and number of teeth (NT) has been suggested as a possible risk indicator for cardiovascular disease. The objective of this study is to investigate whether NT was related to the intima-media thickness (IMT) and to atherosclerotic plaque in carotid arteries in an elderly population.
In a population-based study including 1,016 participants aged 70 years, the NT was self-reported by 947 of the participants. Carotid artery IMT was evaluated by ultrasound. The occurrence of plaque was also measured. Logistic regression was used to analyze the associations between NT and the number of carotid arteries with plaque.
A significant inverse relationship was found between the NT and the number of carotid arteries with plaque after adjustment for age, sex, smoking, body mass index, waist/hip ratio, blood glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol, C-reactive protein, leukocyte count, blood pressure, and Framingham risk score, with odds ratio of 0.89, 95% confidence interval of 0.82 to 0.98, and P = 0.016. The relationship was fairly linear, suggesting a dose-response relationship. When NT was divided into quintiles using the first one as referent, the relationship persisted for all quintiles except for the second one. However, no relationship to IMT was seen.
The present study further emphasizes that tooth loss could be an easily obtained risk indicator for atherosclerosis.
牙周病与动脉粥样硬化背景下的心血管疾病有关，牙齿数量（NT）被认为是心血管疾病的一个潜在风险指标。本研究旨在探讨 NT 是否与颈动脉内膜中层厚度（IMT）和颈动脉粥样硬化斑块有关。
在一项基于人群的研究中，纳入了 1016 名年龄在 70 岁的参与者，其中 947 名参与者自我报告了 NT。通过超声评估颈动脉 IMT，同时还测量了斑块的发生情况。采用 logistic 回归分析 NT 与颈动脉斑块数量之间的关系。
在调整年龄、性别、吸烟、体重指数、腰围/臀围比、血糖、甘油三酯、胆固醇、C 反应蛋白、白细胞计数、血压和弗雷明汉风险评分后，NT 与颈动脉斑块数量呈显著负相关，比值比为 0.89，95%置信区间为 0.82 至 0.98，P = 0.016。这种关系相当线性，表明存在剂量反应关系。当 NT 分为五分位数时，以第一分位数为参照，除第二分位数外，其余五分位数均存在这种关系。然而，与 IMT 之间不存在关系。
本研究进一步强调，牙齿缺失可能是一种易于获得的动脉粥样硬化风险指标。
