Periodontal Diseases Can Trigger or Worsen Respiratory Conditions

Periodontal Diseases Can Trigger or Worsen Respiratory Conditions

Pathogens associated with periodontal diseases may raise an individual’s risk for respiratory infections related to the nation’s fourth-leading cause of death—chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to new research from India. Data from the report suggest a relationship between COPD and periodontal diseases may lie in how microbes associated with gum disease travel from one part of the body to another.

The study team led by Nikhil Sharma, MDS, compared a group of 100 patients who had been hospitalized with respiratory disease with 100 outpatients. Subjects ranged from 20 years of age to 60 years of age and had at least 20 natural teeth each. Subjects in the hospitalized group were affected by pneumonia, COPD, or acute bronchitis. The outpatient group was composed of healthy individuals who had no history of respiratory disease. Standardized measures of oral health were applied to both groups to gather figures for gingival index, plaque index, and simplified oral hygiene index. Each study subject was also examined for probing pocket depth and clinical attachment level (CAL) at four sites per tooth.

Overall, the hospitalized subjects who were affected by respiratory disease were found to have worse periodontal health than the outpatient subjects. Though researchers compared factors such as age, gender, education, and income, the only significant difference noted between the two groups was periodontal health.

Infections that trigger COPD are caused by bacteria that move from the upper throat into the lower respiratory tract through inhalation, according to the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP). Donald S. Clem, DDS, president of the AAP, characterizes the study as an example of the role periodontal health plays in maintaining the health of other systems in the body. “Pulmonary diseases can be severely debilitating,” Clem notes. He suggests that collaborative effort between patients and dentists or periodontists could help prevent or slow the progress of COPD and related conditions.

The study reinforces the significance of cigarette smoking in the development of periodontitis by demonstrating that test subjects who were smokers had markedly higher CALs than non-smokers. Economic class was also highlighted as an oral health risk marker by data that reveals periodontal diseases are four times more prevalent among study subjects who have low incomes compared to better-compensated workers.

Source: American Academy of Periodontology, Journal of Periodontology