Statin use is associated with fewer periodontal lesions: A retrospective study

Background Inflammatory processes are considered to participate in the developmentof cardiovascular disease (CVD). Statins have been used successfully in the preventionand treatment of coronary heart disease.

Chronic periodontitis has been suggested tocontribute to CVD. The aim of this study was to examine the association of statin useand clinical markers of chronic periodontitis.Methods Periodontal probing pocket depth (PPD) values were collected from dentalrecords of 100 consecutive adult patients referred to a university dental clinic fortreatment of advanced chronic periodontitis.

A novel index, Periodontal InflammatoryBurden Index (PIBI), was derived from the PPD values to estimate systemic effects ofperiodontitis.Results Periodontitis patients taking statins had a 37% lower number of pathologicalperiodontal pockets than those without statin medication (P=0.00043). PIBI, whichcombines and unifies the data on PPD, was 40% smaller in statin using patients than inpatients without statin (P=0.00069).

PIBI of subjects on simvastatin and atorvastatinboth differed significantly from patients without statin and were on the same level. Thesubjects' number of teeth had no effect on the resultsConclusions Patients on statin medication exhibit fewer signs of periodontalinflammatory injury than subjects without the statin regimen.

PIBI provides a tool formonitoring inflammatory load of chronic periodontitis. The apparent beneficial effectsof statins may in part be mediated by their pleiotropic anti-inflammatory effect onperiodontal tissue.

Author: Otso Lindy, Kimmo Suomalainen, Marja Makela and Seppo Lindy
Credits/Source: BMC Oral Health 2008, 8:16

Published on: 2008-05-15

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