Oral health and cardiovascular disease in Sweden

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to assess the relation between dental health and cardiovascular disease in an adult Swedish population. A questionnaire was sent to 4811 randomly selected Swedes. It contained 52 questions about dental care habits, oral health, cardiovascular disease and their socio-economic situation. Odd ratios for all cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and the subgroup myocardial infarction, stroke and high blood pressure were calculated with a logistic regression model adjusted for age, gender, smoking, income, civil status and education. These ratios were calculated for subjects > or =41 years since few people suffer from CVD before this. The national questionnaire was answered by 2839 (59%) people between 20-84 years of age and, of them, 1577 were 41 years of age or more. We found a significant association between self-reported bleeding gums (odds ratio 1.60, p=0.0017), presence of dentures (odds ratio 1.57, p=0.0076) and known CVD, which has also been reported in international studies. However, no association between loose teeth, deep pockets and known CVD was detected. The results indicate that oral health and, especially gingival inflammation is associated with CVD.