Salivary and adipose indicators in association with poor periodontal health.

Abstract

<p>Objectives: To investigate the associations of salivary and adipose indicators with poorperiodontal health among junior secondary school students in Hong Kong.Methods: A random sample of 921 students aged 12-15 years from local secondaryschools in Hong Kong SAR, China was recruited. Periodontal status was evaluated by thecommunity periodontal index (CPI) following the criteria recommended by WHO (2013).Anthropometric measurements of waist circumference and hip circumference weremeasured to calculate the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) as a surrogate of abdominal orcentral obesity. Paraffin-stimulated whole saliva was collected for assessing salivary pHand flow rate. Information on age, gender, tooth brushing frequency, snacking habit,last dental visit, and sociodemographic background (household monthly income andparents’ educational attainment) were collected from student and parentquestionnaires. Participants with CPI > 1 were defined as having “poor periodontalhealth”. Mann-Whitney test was used for bivariate analyses. Multiple logistic regressionanalysis was performed using the backward elimination and the Wald test method toidentify significant risk factors.Results: The response rate was 77.2% (n = 711/921), and 21.0% of the participants hadpoor periodontal health (CPI > 1). Participants with poor periodontal health hadsignificantly higher WHR, salivary pH and flow rate. Multiple logistic regressiondemonstrated that students who had a higher WHR z-score (OR = 1.24; 95% CI: 1.03 –1.50), higher salivary pH (OR = 2.84; 95% CI: 1.31 – 6.16), whose gender was male (OR =1.85; 95% CI: 1.22 – 2.82), and who was senior in age (OR = 1.48; 95% CI: 1.24 – 1.77) hada significantly higher possibility of having poor periodontal health in the final model.Conclusions: Poor periodontal status was associated with central obesity as assessed byWHR, salivary pH, age, and gender among secondary school students in Hong Kong.</p>