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The Relationship Between Periodontal Diseases and Chronic Diseases

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Oral Epidemiology

Part of the book series: Textbooks in Contemporary Dentistry ((TECD))

Abstract

The relationship between periodontitis and chronic systemic diseases has been claimed back in the 1950s. Since then, several investigations have explored the influence of periodontitis on systemic diseases and vice-versa. While researchers advocate for a bidirectional relationship, current evidence indicated a lack of good-quality conclusive studies. The majority of the studies in the field are cross-sectional, usually based on secondary data analyses. For many of the associations, reports on clinical trials are scarce or nonexistent. Several methodological issues have been so far neglected, which might have led to inaccurate results. In this chapter, we examine the most common methodological issues and their potential impact on the studies regarding the “perio-systemic” association. Confounding is still the major problem, and we discuss especially smoking behavior, which is generally associated with periodontitis and systemic diseases development/progression. The biological plausibility of the most studied systemic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, and adverse pregnancy outcomes, is also examined on the basis of current evidence. Moreover, we discuss the importance and limitations of using surrogate endpoints as main outcome and the extrapolation of these findings to clinical outcomes. The issue of high heterogeneity in disease definition for both periodontal and systemic conditions, which may be an important source of bias, is beyond the scope of this chapter and slightly permeates the chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dentistry and Oral Health, Section of Periodontology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Fábio Renato Manzolli Leite & Gustavo Giacomelli Nascimento

Authors
  1. Fábio Renato Manzolli Leite
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  2. Gustavo Giacomelli Nascimento
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fábio Renato Manzolli Leite .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Dental Research Institute, National Dental Centre Singapore, Singapore

    Marco A. Peres

  2. School of Public Health, University of São Paulo Faculty of Public Health, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Jose Leopoldo Ferreira Antunes

  3. Dept. of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK

    Richard G. Watt

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Leite, F.R.M., Nascimento, G.G. (2021). The Relationship Between Periodontal Diseases and Chronic Diseases. In: Peres, M.A., Antunes, J.L.F., Watt, R.G. (eds) Oral Epidemiology. Textbooks in Contemporary Dentistry. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50123-5_25

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50123-5_25

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-50123-5

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