Tooth loss and blood pressure in parkinson’s disease patients: An exploratory study on NHANES data

Objectives: To evaluate tooth loss severity in PD patients and the impact of missing teeth on blood pressure (BP) and glycated hemoglobin (Hba1c) levels. Methods: All adults reporting specific PD medication regimens with complete dental examinations were included from the NHANES 2001 to 2018 databases. Sociodemographic, systolic BP (SBP), diastolic BP (DBP) and Hba1c data were compared according to tooth loss severity, and linear regression analyses on the impact of tooth loss on SBP, DBP and Hba1c levels were conducted. Results: The 214 included participants presented 9.7 missing teeth, 23.8% severe tooth loss and 18.2% total edentulousness. Severe tooth loss cases were significantly older (p < 0.001), had higher smoking prevalence (p = 0.008), chronic medical conditions (p = 0.012) and higher Hba1c (p = 0.001), SBP (p = 0.015) and DBP (p < 0.001) levels. Crude and adjusted linear models revealed a relationship between SBP, DBP and missing teeth; however, age confounded these links (SBP: B = 0.10, SE = 0.16, p < 0.05; DBP: B = 0.16, SE = 0.10, p < 0.05). Tooth loss presented no significant relationship with Hba1c levels. Conclusions: Severe tooth loss is prevalent among PD patients. Blood pressure levels showed a positive linear relationship with the number of missing teeth, although age was a confounding factor. Furthermore, tooth loss and Hba1c levels revealed no significant linear relationship.