瑞典近日一项新研究发现，口腔疾病患者拥有的真牙数量与其罹患心血管疾病的几率密切相关。
口腔疾病一直被认为是心血管疾病的一大诱因，但定量证明这一想法却非常困难，主要原因是难以确定衡量口腔疾病严重程度的标准。
瑞典卡罗林斯卡医学院的科学家此次选定口腔疾病患者拥有的真牙数量作为标准。他们对7674名牙周病患者进行了长达12年的研究。结果显示，患者拥有真牙的数量与心血管疾病、尤其是冠心病之间有着非常密切的关系。只有不到10颗真牙的人，即口腔疾病非常严重的患者，死于冠心病的风险比同年龄、同性别却拥有25颗以上真牙的人要高7倍。
参与研究的卡罗林斯卡医学院教授霍尔姆隆德说，口腔感染会扩散到人体的循环系统中，从而造成循环系统发生轻度慢性炎症，进而引发心脏病和其他心血管疾病。
据世界卫生组织统计，心脏病是目前世界上排名第一的健康杀手，每年大约有1700万人死于心脏病。瑞典科学家的研究，证明了口腔疾病与心血管疾病之间的相关性。
瑞典科学家的这一研究成果将发表于最新一期美国《牙周病学杂志》（Journal of Periodontology）上。（来源：新华网 孙锲）
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《牙周病学杂志》发表论文摘要（英文）
Abstract
Journal of Periodontology
Posted online on 29 March 2010.
(doi:10.1902/jop.2010.090680)
Number of teeth as a predictor of cardiovascular mortality in a cohort of 7,674 subjects followed for 12 years
Anders Holmlund,* Gunnar Holm, Lars Lind!
Corresponding Author: Anders Holmlund, Department of Periodontology. Gävle County Hospital, 801 87 Gävle, Sweden. phone 046-26-155646, fax 046-26-155347, e-mail anders.holmlund@lg.se.
Background: That oral health as is related to the development of different cardiovascular disorders has been reported in a number of studies. The aim of this study was to investigate if different parameters of oral health were associated to future mortality in different CV disorders in a dose-dependent manner.
Methods: 7,674 subjects received a dental examination by specialists in periodontology between the years 1976-2002. Number of remaining teeth (NT), severity of periodontal disease (SPD), number of deepened periodontal pockets (NDP), and bleeding on probing (BOP) were evaluated in relation to cause of death.
Results: During a median follow-up period of 12 years 629 of the subjects died. For 299 subjects the cause of mortality was cardiovascular disease (CVD), 167 of these subjects died due to CHD, 83 due to stroke and 49, died due to aortic aneurysm or congestive heart failure. After adjustment for age, gender and smoking, NT predicted in a dose-dependent manner all-cause mortality, mortality in CVD and in CHD (P &0.0001 for all), but not mortality due to stroke (P = 0.15). Cox regression analysis revealed a 7-fold increased risk for mortality due to CHD in subjects with &10 teeth compared to those with <25 teeth. SPD, NDP and BOP were not related to mortality in a dose-dependent manner after adjustment for confounders.
Conclusion: This fairly large, prospective study with a long follow-up period presents for the first time a dose-dependent relationship between number of teeth and both all-cause and CVD mortality, indicating a link between oral health and CVD, and that the number of teeth is a proper indicator for oral health in this respect.
