Research Findings on Obesity, Hypertension, and Periodontitis

According to recent research, investigators from the Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Orthodontics and Public Health, Bauru School of Dentistry, University of São Paulo, Bauru, Brazil found out that morbidly obese patients with hypertension have a higher prevalence of periodontitis and greater severity of periodontal disease than those without hypertension.

The study is published in the International Dental Journal.

Periodontitis and arterial hypertension share common risk factors, such as obesity, however, the confounding factors must be controlled when assessing the association of these outcomes. Literature reveals lack of studies that have investigated the association between hypertension and periodontitis, with exclusion of the bias of obesity.

Therefore, Gerson Aparecido Foratori-Junior and associates conducted the present study to compare the systemic and periodontal conditions between morbidly obese patients with and without hypertension who were candidates for bariatric surgery.

The study cohort had 111 morbidly obese patients stratified into two groups: patients with (G1 = 54) and without (G2 = 57) arterial hypertension. The following characteristics were compared between the two groups:

• Education level
• Anthropometric parameters [weight, height, body mass index (BMI), waist and hip circumferences and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR)]
• Risk of developing cardiovascular diseases (based on patients' sex, age and WHR)
• Behaviours regarding oral hygiene
• Periodontal status

The t-test, Mann–Whitney U-test, chi-square test and logistic regression were applied, with a significance level of 5%.

Key Findings

• Patients in G1 had a lower level of education (P = 0.002).
• There were no intergroup differences for weight (P = 0.211), height (P = 0.126), BMI (P = 0.551), waist circumference (P = 0.859) and WHR (P = 0.067); however, patients in G2 had a smaller hip circumference (P = 0.029), and 78% of patients in G1 had a high/very high risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.
• The prevalence of periodontitis was 72.2% (n = 39) in G1 and 38.6% (n = 22) in G2.
• On logistic regression analysis, age [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.07; 95% CI = 1.01–1.13; P = 0.008) and the presence of arterial hypertension (OR = 2.77; 95% CI = 1.17–6.56; P = 0.019) were identified as the independent variables associated with periodontitis.

Hence, the authors concluded that "patients with morbid obesity and arterial hypertension, scheduled for bariatric surgery, are associated with a higher prevalence of cardiovascular diseases. Moreover, morbidly obese patients with hypertension have a higher prevalence of periodontitis and a greater periodontal disease severity than morbidly obese people without arterial hypertension."