Impact of Unreplaced Lost Teeth on Blood Pressure: An Evaluation of Health Checkup Data

Although positive relationships between tooth loss and cardiovascular disease have been extensively reported, the impact of tooth loss left unreplaced for a certain period on cardiometabolic conditions remains unclear. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the effects of unreplaced tooth loss with cardiometabolic markers in middle-aged bankers using data obtained from health checkups conducted at 2 age points with a 4-year interval. A total of 218 bankers aged 46 years with unreplaced teeth after loss 4 years prior (at age of 42 years) ere analyzed. The health checkup included a physical examination, collection of blood specimen for laboratory test, a self-administered questionnaire regarding health behaviors, and a dental examination. Participants were categorized into 2 groups; those who had unreplaced tooth loss (UTL) and those who did not. Differences in mean values for systolic and diastolic blood pressure, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides, fasting blood glucose, and HbA1c between the groups were evaluated using analysis of covariance. A logistic regression model was constructed to calculate the odds ratio of the relation of UTL with high blood pressure (BP) (systolic BP ?130 mmHg and/or diastolic BP ?85 mmHg) including covariates. We found that higher levels of both systolic and diastolic BP were observed in participants with UTL than in those without (123.4 vs. 119.4 mmHg, and 75.9 vs. 71.9 mmHg, respectively), with a statistical significance in mean value for diastolic BP (P< 0.01). In addition, participants with UTL had greater odds for high blood pressure, after adjusting for the covariates (adjusted odds ratio = 2.58 [1.25-5.35]). While, there were no significant differences in regard to the mean values for high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting blood glucose, and HbA1c between the groups. Our results suggest that tooth loss left unreplaced for a certain period is related to increased BP levels in this early middleaged population.