Association between Periodontal Disease, Aterosclerosis and Thickness of the Intimate-Medium Carotid Layer

Background: Coronary heart disease has a major impact on global health, the potential morbidity and mortality and as periodontal diseases have a high prevalence in the present day. In addition, the two conditions share common risk factors, such as smoking, diabetes mellitus and age. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the association between periodontal disease, atherosclerosis and carotid intima-media thickness of the carotid artery.

Methods and findings: A cross-sectional observational study with a sample of patients from the emergency hospital university of Pernambuco (PROCAPE) was conducted anamnesis and periodontal evaluation through the plaque index, bleeding index, probing depth, gingival recession. The thickness of the intima-media thickness of the carotid artery (cIMT) was obtained by ultrasound. The sample consisted of 92 patients aged 19-82 years. The prevalence of periodontal disease index was 74.2% and 11.8% of gingivitis. In the bivariate analysis showed a statistically significant correlation between periodontal disease and the presence of atheromatous plaque, but this relationship was not maintained in the multivariate analysis. The presence of atheromatous plaques was higher in patients with moderate to severe periodontal disease.

Conclusion: There was a statistically significant correlation between the presence of periodontal disease and the presence of atheromatous plaques, as well as increased carotid intima-media thickness. However, this association was not verified in multivariate analyzes.