The relationship between acute myocardial infarction and periodontitis.

BACKGROUND Periodontitis is common in adults and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the most common cause of adult death in the world. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between CVD and periodontitis. METHODS Sixty patients with myocardial infarction (MI) as case and 63 subjects with periodontitis without MI as control were studied. Periodontitis was assessed according to Ramfjord periodontal diseases index and the number of missing teeth besides classic risk factors of MI were recorded. RESULTS The patients who lost more than 10 teeth were at more risk of myocardial infarction (OR=2.73). There was a significant relationship between mean attachment loss and MI (p=0.0001). There was also a relation between attachment loss more than 3 mm and MI with OR of 4. Significant difference between mean PDI (periodontal disease index) was seen in case and control groups (p=0.0001). Subjects with PDI>4 were at more risk of periodontal diseases (OR=7.87). CONCLUSION The results show the presence of significant relation between periodontitis and MI which could serve as an alarm to treat periodontitis carefully.