Unmasking the Silent Threat: Periodontal Health's Impact on COPD Severity and Hospitalization

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated the relationship between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and periodontitis, focusing on how periodontal health impacts COPD airflow limitation, exacerbations, and hospitalization.

BACKGROUND

Periodontitis, a multifactorial inflammatory disease, is characterized by destruction of tooth-supporting structures, while COPD is a global pulmonary disorder with high mortality.

METHODS

A total of 199 COPD patients aged over 40 years underwent lung function tests (spirometry), 6 min walk test, and St George's Respiratory Questionnaire-COPD (SGRQ-C) to assess lung health. Periodontal indices such as probing depth (PD), clinical attachment loss (CAL), and plaque index (PI) were assessed.

RESULTS

We found a significant negative correlation between periodontal disease severity and lung function (lower FEV1, FVC, and FEV1/FVC ratio) after adjusting for smoking. Likewise, periodontal parameters (PPD, PI, and CAL) exhibited negative correlations with lung function. These periodontal indices were independently associated with airflow limitation severity, exacerbations frequency, and prior-year hospitalization. Linear regression indicated that each unit increase in PPD, PI, and CAL corresponded to estimated increases in GOLD airflow limitation grading (0.288, 0.718, and 0.193, respectively) and number of exacerbations (0.115, 0.041, and 0.109, respectively). In logistic regression, PPD, PI, and CAL adjusted odds ratios (ORs) were estimated to increase by 1.29 (95%CI: 1.03-1.62), 3.04 (95%CI: 1.28-7.2), and 1.26 (95%CI: 1.06-1.49), respectively, for hospitalization in previous year.

CONCLUSION

Periodontitis is associated with COPD airflow limitation, exacerbation, and hospitalization, with PI being the most clinically relevant periodontal factor. Dentists and physicians should monitor and increase awareness among COPD patients to maintain oral hygiene for prevention of periodontal diseases and mitigate its effect on COPD progression.

Association between periodontal disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and periodontal disease are chronic inflammatory conditions that significantly affect an individual's overall health and well-being. Generally, the prevalence of periodontitis is higher in patients with COPD than those without COPD, which may partly be attributed to common risk factors in COPD, such as smoking, respiratory infections, and inflammation. In particular, periodontitis may exacerbate the progression of COPD and further deteriorate the respiratory system by promoting inflammatory responses and bacterial infections. Immunocytes, including neutrophils, and microorganisms such as Fusobacterium nucleatum originating from oral biofilms are believed to be crucial factors influencing to COPD. Furthermore, the potential benefits of treating periodontal disease in COPD outcomes have been investigated. Although the relationship between COPD and periodontal disease has been preliminarily studied, there is currently a lack of large-scale clinical studies to validate this association. In addition to clinical examinations, investigating biomarkers and microbiology may contribute to explore the underlying mechanisms involved in the management of these conditions. This review aims to contribute to a better understanding of the clinical and basic research aspects of COPD and periodontitis, allowing for potential therapeutic approaches and interdisciplinary management strategies.

Association between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and periodontal disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objectives

Studies have suggested contradictory results on the relationship between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and periodontal disease (PD). The aim of this study was to determine whether PD increased the risk of COPD and COPD-related clinical events.

Design

A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Data sources

PubMed, Ovid EMBASE and Ovid CENTRAL were searched from inception to 22 February 2023.

Eligibility criteria for studies

We included trials and observational studies evaluating association of PD with the risk of COPD or COPD-related events (exacerbation and mortality), with statistical adjustment for smoking.

Data extraction and synthesis

Two investigators independently extracted data from selected studies using a standardised Excel file. Quality of studies was evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. OR with 95% CI was pooled in a random-effect model with inverse variance method.

Results

22 observational studies with 51 704 participants were included. Pooled analysis of 18 studies suggested that PD was weakly associated with the risk of COPD (OR: 1.20, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.32). However, in stratified and subgroup analyses, with strict adjustment for smoking, PD no longer related to the risk of COPD (adjusting for smoking intensity: OR: 1.14, 95% CI 0.86 to 1.51; smokers only: OR: 1.46, 95% CI 0.92 to 2.31; never smokers only: OR: 0.93, 95% CI 0.72 to 1.21). Moreover, PD did not increase the risk of COPD-related exacerbation or mortality (OR: 1.18, 95% CI 0.71 to 1.97) in the pooled result of four studies.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates PD confers no risk for COPD and COPD-related events when strictly adjusted by smoking. Large-scale prospective cohort studies with control of potential confounding factors are warranted to validate the present findings.

The association between respiratory diseases and periodontitis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

AIM

To evaluate (1) whether periodontitis has an influence on the prevalence/incidence of respiratory diseases (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD], asthma, community-acquired pneumonia [CAP], obstructive sleep apnoea [OSA] and COVID-19), and (2) what is the impact of periodontal therapy on the onset or progression of respiratory diseases.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

An electronic search was performed on Pubmed, Cochrane Library and Scopus databases up to October 2021, to identify studies answering the PECOS and PICOS questions.

RESULTS

Seventy-five articles were selected. Meta-analyses identified statistically significant associations of periodontitis with COPD (nstudies  = 12, odds ratio [OR] = 1.28, 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.16; 1.42], p < .001), and OSA (ns  = 6, OR = 1.65, 95% CI [1.21; 2.25], p = .001), but not for asthma (ns  = 9, OR = 1.53, 95% CI [0.82; 2.86], p = .181). For acute conditions, two studies were found for CAP, while for COVID-19, significant associations were found for the need of assisted ventilation (ns  = 2, OR = 6.24, 95% CI [2.78; 13.99], p < .001) and COVID-related mortality (ns  = 3, OR = 2.26, 95% CI [1.36, 3.77], p = .002). Only four intervention studies were found, showing positive effects of periodontal treatment on COPD, asthma and CAP.

CONCLUSIONS

A positive association between periodontitis and COPD, OSA and COVID-19 complications has been found, while there is a lack of intervention studies.

Periodontitis and the incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A longitudinal study of an adult Japanese cohort

AIM

To examine the relationship between periodontitis as an independent effect of smoking and the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Japanese people based on longitudinal data.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We targeted 4745 people who underwent pulmonary function tests and dental check-ups at baseline and 8 years later. The Community Periodontal Index was used to assess periodontal status. A Cox proportional hazard model was used to examine the relationship between the incidence of COPD and periodontitis and smoking. To clarify the interaction between smoking and periodontitis, interaction analysis was performed.

RESULTS

In a multivariable analysis, both periodontitis and heavy smoking had significant effects on COPD development. When periodontitis was analysed as a continuous value (number of sextants with periodontitis) and as a category (presence or absence of periodontitis) in the multivariable analyses after adjusting for smoking, pulmonary function and other variables, periodontitis had significantly higher hazard ratios (HRs) for the incidence of COPD; the HRs were 1.09 (1.01-1.17) and 1.48 (1.09-2.02), respectively. Interaction analysis showed no significant interaction between heavy smoking and periodontitis on COPD.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that periodontitis has no interaction with smoking but has an independent effect on developing COPD.

The impact of gingivitis reduction on lung function: a randomized trial under intensified oral hygiene

BACKGROUND

Periodontal disease and lung function impairment were found to be associated with low-grade systemic or local inflammation, and it might be that gingival/periodontal inflammation triggers lung function due to systemic inflammation or the transfer of oral bacteria or its components to the lung. A recent observational study in non-smoking subjects showed that lung volumes and flow rates were significantly reduced by 71-185 ml for severe gingivitis regardless of the adjustment for potential confounders. The result did not show any confounding by smoking, and the association between gingivitis and lower lung function was not modified by systemic inflammation. The designed interventional trial primarily aims to test the hypothesis that gingivitis reduction by optimized daily oral hygiene, professional tooth cleaning and antibacterial chlorhexidine (CHX)-containing mouth rinse improves lung function in terms of forced vital capacity (FVC) by at least 2%. The secondary objective will test the hypothesis that gingivitis reduction improves forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) and forced expiratory flow at 25-75% of the pulmonary volume (FEF25-75) by at least 2%. Furthermore, the influence of the oral microbiome will be taken into account.

METHODS

The study has to include 120 non-smoking subjects aged between 18 and 30 years with biofilm-induced gingivitis. The chosen "waiting control group design" will compare the immediate intervention group with the delayed intervention group, which serves as a control group. Dental and gingival status, lung function and oral microbiome will be recorded. The intensified preventive intervention-professional tooth cleaning, one-stage full-mouth disinfection with CHX and safeguarding an optimal daily oral hygiene by each subject-cannot be blinded, but the outcome measurement in terms of lung function tests is blind.

DISCUSSION

This proposed multidisciplinary study has several strengths. Only one previous intervention study with patients with severe periodontitis (mostly smokers) has been performed. It is novel to include non-smoking subjects with mild and potentially reversible oral inflammation. Furthermore, this research is innovative, because it includes evidence-based interventions for gingivitis reduction, standardized measures of the outcome on lung function and oral microbiome and combines expertise from dentistry, lung physiology, oral microbiology and epidemiology/statistical modelling.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

German Clinical Trial Register DRKS00028176. Registered on February 2022.

Pulmonary disease and periodontal health: a meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

Research has shown a positive relationship between pulmonary and periodontal disease. However, the relationship remains unclear. The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the associations between pulmonary disease and periodontal health.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Science Citation Index, Wanfang, and CNKI were searched for all the relevant studies of relationship between pulmonary disease and periodontal health. Weighted mean difference (WMD)/odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to assess the strength of the association.

RESULTS

Thirty-seven studies were included in this meta-analysis. Pooled analysis showed a significant association between pulmonary and periodontal disease (adjusted OR, 1.93; 95%CI: 1.60-2.33; P < 0.05), and pooled adjusted OR was 1.64, 3.03, and 2.21 in COPD, asthma, and pneumonia, respectively. The pooled analysis also showed that patients with pulmonary disease suffered from worse periodontal health as most periodontal indexes in those patients were poorer.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a strong association between pulmonary disease and periodontal health. Clinical trials analyzing the causality and pathological basis of the association of these two diseases are needed.

The association between periodontitis and lung function: results from NHANES 2009-2012

BACKGROUND

We aimed to explore the association between periodontitis and lung function in the United States of America.

METHODS

The data was based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2009-2012. Periodontitis was defined following the CDC/AAP (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/American Academy of periodontology) classification. Lung function measurements included forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) , forced vital capacity (FVC) , and FEV1/FVC ratio. Linear regression and binary logistic regression were used to explore the association between periodontitis and lung function measurements. Restricted cubic spline was used to assess the dose-response relationships between the mean attachment loss, the mean probing depth and spirometry-defined airflow obstruction (FEV1/FVC < 0.7) .

RESULTS

A total of 6313 adults aged 30 years or older were included. Compared to those with non-periodontitis, the multivariate-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of airflow obstruction for moderate and severe periodontitis were 1.38 (95%CI: 1.01-1.75) and 1.47 (95%CI: 1.06-2.01) , the β coefficients of FEV1 for moderate and severe periodontitis were -130.16 (95%CI: -172.30 to -88.01) and -160.46 (95%CI: -249.94 to -70.97) , the β coefficients of FVC for moderate and severe periodontitis were -100.96 (95%CI: -155.08 to -46.85) and -89.89 (95%CI: -178.45 to -1.33) , the β coefficients of FEV1/FVC for moderate and severe periodontitis were -0.01 (95%CI: -0.02 to -0.01) and -0.02 (95%CI: -0.03 to -0.01) . In stratified analyses, the multivariate-adjusted odds ratios of airflow obstruction for the moderate and severe periodontitis were 1.27 (95%CI: 0.84-1.93) and 2.31 (95%CI: 1.10-4.83) in former smokers, 1.84 (95%CI: 1.03-3.30) and 1.79 (95%CI: 1.02-3.16) in current smokers, with no significant association observed in never smokers. Mean clinical attachment loss and mean probing depth were negatively associated with FEV1, FVC and FEV1/FVC in never, former and current smokers. Dose-response relationship analysis showed that the risk of airflow obstruction increased with increasing mean clinical attachment loss and mean probing depth, and showed a non-linear dose-response relationship.

CONCLUSION

Our study suggested that moderate and severe periodontitis might be associated with the decline of lung function in the United States of America. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Periodontitis increases the risk of respiratory disease mortality in older patients

Evidence for an association between periodontitis and respiratory disease in the older patients is limited. Additionally, little information exists regarding the role of potential effect modifiers. The aim of this study is to examine whether periodontitis increases the risk of respiratory disease mortality in older patients. Between January 2010 and December 2014, 1385 patients aged 75 years and above who underwent radiographic examination in the largest dental hospital in Shanghai, China were included in this retrospective cohort study. The dental examination was made with the panoramic radiographs. Demographic information and comorbid health conditions were collected from local health authorities. Participant follow up was continued until either the occurrence of mortality, or the end of the study on December 31, 2018. Cox proportional hazards regression and competing risk hazard models were performed to examine the association between periodontitis and respiratory disease mortality. We found that periodontitis was associated with total respiratory disease mortality. Compared with healthy participants, the hazards ratio and 95% confidence interval for total respiratory disease mortality in patients with severe periodontitis was 2.72(1.04,7.11) after adjusting for relevant confounding variables. With increasing severity of periodontitis, risks for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) mortality also increased significantly (P = .038). Smokers and participants with body mass index (BMI) < 25 kg/m² were at increased risk. Loss of teeth was not associated with either total respiratory disease or COPD mortality. Although the present study cannot ascertain causal association, it provides substantial evidence that poor periodontal health is associated with respiratory disease in the older patients, particularly in smokers and patients with BMI < 25 kg/m².

Periodontitis and respiratory diseases: A systematic review with meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the recent scientific literature addressing the association between periodontitis and asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and pneumonia.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The search for studies was carried out using MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, Lilacs, Web of Science, Scopus, and SciELO databases, including the gray literature (ProQuest). Reference lists of selected articles were also searched. Studies having varying epidemiological designs assessing the association between periodontitis and respiratory diseases in human subjects were eligible for inclusion. Three independent reviewers performed the selection of articles and data extraction. Fixed and random effects meta-analysis were performed for the calculation of the association measurements (Odds Ratio-OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).

RESULTS

A total of 3,234 records were identified in the database search, with only 13 studies meeting the eligibility criteria and 10 studies contributed data for meta-analysis. Using a random effects models periodontitis was associated with asthma: ORadjusted: 3.54 (95% CI: 2.47-5.07), I²  = 0%; with COPD: OR adjusted: 1.78 (95% CI: 1.04-3.05), I²  = 37.9%; and with pneumonia: OR adjusted: 3.21 (95% CI: 1.997-5.17), I²  = 0%.

CONCLUSIONS

The main findings of this systematic review validated an association between periodontitis and asthma, COPD and pneumonia.

Periodontitis Is Associated with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Although they are known to share pathophysiological processes, the relationship between periodontitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is not fully understood. The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that periodontitis is associated with a greater risk of development of COPD, when smoking is taken into account. The analysis in a 5-y follow-up population-based cohort study was based on 900 community-dwelling Japanese adults (age: 68.8 ± 6.3 [mean ± SD], 46.0% male) without COPD aged 60 or older with at least 1 tooth. Participants were classified into 3 categories according to baseline periodontitis severity (no/mild, moderate, and severe). COPD was spirometrically determined by a fixed ratio of <0.7 for forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC) and by FEV1/FVC below the lower limit of normal. Poisson regression was used to calculate the relative risk (RR) of developing COPD according to the severity of periodontitis. The population attributable fraction (PAF) was also calculated. During follow-up, 22 (2.4%) subjects developed COPD. Compared with no/mild periodontitis subjects, a significantly increased risk of COPD occurred among severe periodontitis subjects (RR = 3.55; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.18 to 10.67), but no significant differences were observed between the no/mild and moderate categories (RR = 1.48; 95% CI, 0.56 to 3.90). After adjustment for potential confounders, including smoking intensity, the relationship between severe periodontitis and risk of COPD remained significant (RR = 3.51; 95% CI, 1.15 to 10.74). Likewise, there was a positive association of periodontitis severity with risk of COPD ( P for trend = 0.043). The PAF for COPD due to periodontitis was 22.6%. These data highlight the potential importance of periodontitis as a risk factor for COPD.