Research

Effects of oral health behavior on remaining teeth in Korean adults older than 45 years with hypertension and diabetes

Jung Hwa Lee*   

Department of Dental Hygiene·Oral Hygiene Science Research Institute, Dong-eui University

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of oral health behaviors of patients with hypertension and diabetic patients on the number of remaining teeth in Korean adults over 45 years of age, furthermore, we also aimed to develop oral health care programs and health promotion for patients with hypertension and diabetes. Altogether, 1,526 subjects with hypertension and diabetes from the 6th Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey (2013-2015) were analyzed. A multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the effects of oral health behavior and periodontal disease on residual teeth in patients with hypertension and diabetes after adjusting for age. We found 1.53 times the risk of having less than 20 remaining teeth in the group of brushing more than 3 times a day (95% CI: 1.00-2.35, p<0.001), 2.27 times (95% CI: 1.23-4.17, p<0.05) in the group not using the dental floss group 0.05), compared to the group undergoing regular dental check-up (95% CI: 0.93-1.85, p<0.05), compared to the non-smoking group 0.77 times (95% CI: 0.51-1.14, p>0.05), 1.33 times (95% CI: 0.98-1.80, p>0.05) in the drinking group compared to the non-drinking group, in the periodontal disease group, the risk of having less than 20 remaining teeth was 2.19 times higher (95% CI: 1.48-3.24, p>0.001) than in the normal group. As a super-aging society, develops in Korea, the prevalence of hypertension and diabetes will increase gradually. Therefore, an oral health policy should be implemented at the national level for the prevention and treatment of periodontal disease as well as the management of oral health the elderly.

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