Poor oral health and systemic health outcomes linked

Those who report having poor oral health are as likely to have negative long-term systemic health outcomes as those previously diagnosed with periodontal disease or gum disease, according to a new Tufts University School of Dental Medicine study published in The Journal of the American Dental Association.

The researchers examined whether self-reported oral health questions, which are commonly used in the surveillance of periodontal disease, had the same or similar comorbidities of the disease by analysing data sets from the Women’s Health Study and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The Women’s Health Study followed women 45 years or older with self-reported information on gum disease, oral health questions, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis in various timeframes starting from 1992, while the NHANES included data on oral health questions and linked mortality from 1999 to 2018.