Relationship between tooth loss and carotid intima-media thickness in Korean adults

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between tooth loss and sub-clinical atherosclerosis in Korean adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS The subjects were part of a cohort study conducted in Ansan city by the Korea University medical school as part of the Korean Genome project. 749 subjects over than 40 years old were evaluated. After taking panoramic radiography, the amount of tooth loss was calculated. The intima-media thickness (IMT) was assessed by using ultrasonography at the common carotid artery. Traditional cardiovascular risk factors for atherosclerosis were also evaluated. The relationship between tooth loss and the IMT was evaluated using ANOVA with Scheffe's multiple comparison method in univariate analysis. Multiple regression analysis was also performed to determine the significance between the IMT and tooth loss. RESULTS With age, tooth loss increased, but there was no significant increase in other traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Univariate analysis revealed the IMT to be positively related with the amount of tooth loss. Regression analysis of the IMT in the anterior and posterior tooth loss revealed that only the posterior tooth loss was significantly related with the IMT at all sites of the common carotid artery (right far wall, P = .015; left far wall, P = .008; right near wall, P < .001; left near wall, P = .001). CONCLUSION This study verified the positive relationship between the increased tooth loss at the posterior area and the accumulation of atheroma in arteries.