Association between periodontal health and respiratory diseases – A case control study

Introduction: It has been found there is a two way association between many of the systemic diseases and periodontal health. Respiratory diseases are responsible for a significant number of mortality and morbidity in humans. The diseases include COPD, asthma, pleural effusion, tuberculosis etc. A genuine association between the respiratory diseases and periodontal health has been described by many of the studies. Aims and Objectives: To explore the relevant relationship between periodontal health and respiratory diseases. Materials and Method: 100 patients with pulomonary diseases and 100 age, sex and race matched control group with normal pulmonary function were selected from Yenepoya Dental and Medical College. Lung disease was confirmed by spirometry. Clinical parameters such as gingival index, plaque index, community periodontal index and loss of attachment was assessed and compared between cases and controls. The data collection was done to carry out the statistical analysis. Statistical analysis: The analysis was performed by means of Students unpaired ‘t' test, Kruskal Wallis ‘t' test and Mann Whitney test. Results: Patients with respiratory diseases exhibited poor periodontal health manifested as increased gingival inflammation, deeper probing depths and greater loss of attachment when compared to control group with normal pulmonary function. Conclusion: The findings of the present study support a significant association between periodontal health and respiratory diseases.