Poor Self-Reported Oral Hygiene and Excess Cardiovascular Risk

Poor oral hygiene is the most important cause of periodontal disease, and self-reported oral hygiene can predict clinically important periodontal disease. Prior research findings suggest that periodontal disease is associated with excess risk for cardiovascular (CV) disease. In this Scottish population-based survey, investigators determined whether a simple self-reported measure of oral hygiene — frequency of tooth brushing — as a proxy of periodontal disease was associated with risk for adverse CV events (e.g., myocardial infarction, stroke, coronary artery bypass surgery).

Among the nearly 12,000 survey respondents (average age, 50), 555 adverse CV events (170 fatal) occurred during an average 8.1 years of follow-up. After adjustments for …