ASSESSING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DENTAL DISEASE AND CORONARY HEART-DISEASE IN ELDERLY US VETERANS

Several recent studies have shown a link between dental disease and co ronary heart disease. The authors studied 320 U.S. veterans in a conve nience sample to assess the relationship between oral health and syste mic diseases among older people. They present cross-sectional data con firming that a statistically significant association exists between a diagnosis of coronary heart disease and certain oral health parameters , such as the number of missing teeth, plaque benzoyl-DL-arginine-naph thylamide test scores, salivary levels of Streptococcus sanguis and co mplaints of xerostomia. The oral parameters in these subjects were ind ependent of and more strongly associated with coronary heart disease t han were recognized risk factors, such as serum cholesterol levels, bo dy mass index, diabetes and smoking status. However, because of the co nvenience sample studied, these findings cannot be generalized to othe r populations.