History of Periodontitis Diagnosis and Edentulism as Predictors of Cardiovascular Disease, Stroke, and Mortality in Postmenopausal Women

Background-Few studies have reported associations between periodontitis and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in older women, which is the objective of the present investigation. Methods and Results-Participants were 57 001 postmenopausal women ages 55 to 89 years (mean 68 years; >85% 60 and older) who were enrolled (1993-1998) in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study, and were without known CVD when history of periodontitis and edentulism was assessed by questionnaire at study Year-5 (1998-2003). There were 3589 incident CVD events and 3816 total deaths during a mean follow-up of 6.7 years. In multivariable analysis, periodontitis was not associated with CVD events, but was associated with higher total mortality (hazard ratio (HR)=1.12, 95% Cl: 1.05-1.21). Edentulism was a associated with higher age- and smoking-adjusted risks of CVD (HR=1.42, 95% Cl: 1.27-1.59) and mortality (HR=1.47, 95% Cl: 1.32-1.63). Further adjustment eliminated the association with CVD, but mortality remained significantly increased (HR=1.17, 95% Cl: 1.02-1.33). Stratification on age, race-ethnicity, smoking, and diabetes mellitus yielded comparable results; however, edentulism was more strongly associated with CVD in women reporting >= 1 dental visit (HR=1.57) compared with <1 visit (HR 1.03, interaction P-0.004) annually. Conclusions-In community-dwelling older women, edentulism was associated with increased risks of CVD and total mortality, and presence of periodontitis, which is more prevalent than edentulism, was associated with 17% higher mortality rate. These findings suggest that improving periodontal condition of the general population could reduce overall mortality.