Abstract

Background/Aim: It is well known that Periodontal Disease (PD) is a risk factor for diverse systematic diseases and disorders, such as Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes Mellitus (DM), pulmonary diseases such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Hypertension (HT), several types of Cancer, etc. The aim of the current case-control study was to examine the possible role of PD indices as risk factors of developing Hypertension in an adult population in Greece. Material and Method: The research sample consisted of 158 males and 146 females, aged 45 to 75 years. 98 participants suffered from HT-case group, and 196 concerned the healthy ones-control group. PD clinical indices investigated were collected via a modified standardized questionnaire and an oral tissue clinical examination. Periodontal condition comprised the following clinical variables, probing pocket depth (PPD), clinical attachment loss (CAL), plaque index (PlI), and gingival index (GI). Univariate and logistic regression models adjusted for possible confounders were applied for data analysis. Results: Statistical analysis revealed that advanced age (p= 0.062, OR=1.457, 95% CI=0.8652.314), smoking (p= 0.032, OR= 2.117, 95% CI= 1.022-3.167), increased BMI (p=0.058, OR= 1.429, 95% CI= 0.995-2.518), presence of DM (p=0.000, OR=2.270, 95% CI=1.146-4.231), family history HT presence (p=0.036, OR= 2.076, 95% CI=1.058-3.289), gingival inflammation (GI) (p= 0.049, OR= 1.814, 95% CI= 1.019-3,123), and plaque accumulation (PlI) (p= 0.032, OR= 2.090, 95% CI=1.105-3.583) were statistically significantly associated with the risk of developing HT. Conclusions: The present case-control study recorded positive associations of advanced age, smoking, increased BMI, presence of DM and HT family history, gingival inflammation (GI), and dental plaque accumulation (PlI) with HT development.