21 March 2023

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Is there a correlation between oral hygiene and mortality from cardiovascular diseases?

Lara Figini

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Poor oral hygiene has been reported to be associated with significant changes in the composition and function of the oral microbiome. It is, however, not yet established whether good oral hygiene translates into systemic health benefits.

Materials and methods 

In a study published in the British Dental Journal in February 2023, the authors tried to answer the following questions: 

• Can home oral hygiene (OHS) affect cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality?
• Can the use of mouthwash in addition to OHS affect CVD mortality?
• How does using mouthwash affect oral microbes?

Researchers investigated the association between OHS and CVD mortality in 354 patients from the Kuopio Oral Health and Heart study. Statistics were evaluated using Cox regression analysis, adjusted for age, gender, smoking, dyslipidemia, diabetes, hypertension and instruction. The team also investigated whether mouthwash use could influence this correlation.

Results

In multivariate-adjusted models, OHS was associated with a 51% reduction in the risk of CVD mortality. Those who had coronary artery disease at baseline also showed a marginally significant benefit in maintaining good and consistent oral hygiene.

However, mouthwash use did not change OHS effects, indicating no additional benefit or disadvantage. All bacteria tested tended to decrease with short-term mouthwash use, but none of these data was statistically significant.

Conclusions

From the data of this study, researchers concluded that good OHS home oral hygiene can significantly reduce the risk of CVD mortality compared to poor OHS.

Mouthwash use shows no long-term harm or benefit on CVD mortality beyond the benefits rendered by brushing and flossing.