Periodontal Conditions of Hong Kong Chinese Adults with Essential Hypertension

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the periodontal conditions of Hong Kong (HK) Chinese adults with essential hypertension (EH). Methods: 106 adults (49 male and 57 female, aged 20 to 76 years, mean: 53.2 + 11.2 years) with EH of mean diagnosed duration 11.4 + 6.9 years were recruited from the Hypertension Clinic at Queen Mary Hospital in HK. Plaque score (PS), bleeding on probing (BOP %), gingival recession (GR), and probing pocket depth (PPD) were measured using a manual periodontal probe. Clinical attachment loss (CAL) was calculated from PPD and GR measurements. Blood pressure (BP) and pulse rate were measured twice using automatic BP monitor at 10-minute interval prior to oral examination then averaged to obtain the mean BP and pulse rate readings.

Results: 52.8% of the patients with EH had severe periodontitis (with >2 interproximal sites with CAL >6 mm and >1 interproximal site with PPD >5 mm). 60.3% had suboptimal BP control (systolic BP >139mmHg or diastolic BP >89mmHg). Only 1.9% had no or just mild periodontitis. 79.2% and 61.3% of the patients were found to have CAL and PPD of >5mm on at least 1 site and 4.7% and 2.8% had >30% of sites with CAL and PPD >5mm, respectively. Mean CAL and PPD were 3.2mm and 2.7mm. Patients with severe periodontitis had higher mean systolic BP (147mmHg) and a greater proportion with suboptimal BP control when compared to patients with moderate or no periodontitis (139mmHg) (p<0.05).

Conclusions: Severe periodontitis appeared to be associated with higher mean systolic BP and suboptimal BP control. Suboptimal BP control is associated with higher mean BOP% and PPD.