Dental caries and psychological factors

Periodontal disease as a function of life events stress

Studies relating stress and oral pathology have been limited to animal experiments or clinical studies of personality and psychological health that have ignored the role of specific life events. The present study related measurements of life events stress to measurements of periodontal disease. Subjects were fifty male volunteers recruited from a pool of dental patients from the Brooklyn VA Outpatient Dental Clinic. Oral examinations were given to determine the degree of periodontitis and gingivitis. Evidence of other somatic symptomatology was assessed by the somatization subscale of the Brief Symptom Inventory. The degree of life events stress was assessed with the Life Experience Survey. Measurements of life events stress were found to be significantly correlated with measures of periodontal disease. Periodontal disease was more severe and widespread as stressors increased. Subjects were found whose general physical health was unrelated to their life situation.

Effect of hydrocortisone acetate on dental caries and salivary glands in adrenalectomized female rats

Adrenalectomized rats were given 0.5 mg or 1.0 mg of hydrocortisone acetate once daily for eight weeks. With increased hormonal doses, the dental caries activity and salivary glandular weights proportionally increased and decreased, respectively, as compared with adrenalectomized controls. Adrenalectomized rats had less dental caries than sham-operated rats. Either adrenalectomy or hormonal treatments interfered with the absolute weights, and especially with the histologic integrity of the salivary glands, in comparison with sham-operated rats.