Tooth Decay in Alcohol Abusers Compared to Alcohol and Drug Abusers

Alcohol and drug abuse are detrimental to general and oral health. Though we know the effects of these harmful habits on oral mucosa, their independent and combined effect on the dental caries experience is unknown and worthy of investigation. We compared 363 “alcohol only” abusers to 300 “alcohol and drug” abusers to test the hypothesis that various components of their dental caries experience are significantly different due to plausible sociobiological explanations. After controlling for the potential confounders, we observe that the “alcohol and drug” group had a 38% higher risk of having decayed teeth compared to the “alcohol only” group (P < .05). As expected, those who belonged to a higher social class (OR = 1.98; 95%  CI = 1.43–2.75) and drank wine (OR = 1.85; 95%  CI = 1.16–2.96) had a higher risk of having more filled teeth. We conclude that the risk of tooth decay among “alcohol only” abusers is significantly lower compared to “alcohol and drug” abusers

Association between Selected Oral Pathogens and Gastric Precancerous Lesions

We examined whether colonization of selected oral pathogens is associated with gastric precancerous lesions in a cross-sectional study. A total of 119 participants were included, of which 37 were cases of chronic atrophic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia, or dysplasia. An oral examination was performed to measure periodontal indices. Plaque and saliva samples were tested with real-time quantitative PCR for DNA levels of pathogens related to periodontal disease (Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythensis, Treponema denticola, Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans) and dental caries (Streptococcus mutans and S. sobrinus). There were no consistent associations between DNA levels of selected bacterial species and gastric precancerous lesions, although an elevated but non-significant odds ratio (OR) for gastric precancerous lesions was observed in relation to increasing colonization of A. actinomycetemcomitans (OR = 1.36 for one standard deviation increase, 95% Confidence Interval = 0.87–2.12), P. gingivalis (OR = 1.12, 0.67–1.88) and T. denticola (OR = 1.34, 0.83–2.12) measured in plaque. To assess the influence of specific long-term infection, stratified analyses by levels of periodontal indices were conducted. A. actinomycetemcomitans was significantly associated with gastric precancerous lesions (OR = 2.51, 1.13–5.56) among those with ≥ median of percent tooth sites with PD≥3 mm, compared with no association among those below the median (OR = 0.86, 0.43–1.72). A significantly stronger relationship was observed between the cumulative bacterial burden score of periodontal disease-related pathogens and gastric precancerous lesions among those with higher versus lower levels of periodontal disease indices (p-values for interactions: 0.03–0.06). Among individuals with periodontal disease, high levels of colonization of periodontal pathogens are associated with an increased risk of gastric precancerous lesions

Adjusted means and odds ratios for gastric precancerous lesions in relation to bacterial DNA levels, n = 119.

1<p>Means of absolute bacterial counts (ng/µl) adjusted for age and sex.</p>2<p>ORs estimated in relation to a standard deviation increase in the log-transformed bacterial DNA levels. Model 1 was adjusted for age and sex. Model 2 was further adjusted for race, smoking status, educational attainment, BMI, and <i>H. pylori</i> status.</p>3<p>Bacterial counts in 1×10<b>²</b> ng/µl.</p>4<p>Bacterial counts in 1×10<b>⁴</b> ng/µl.</p>5<p>Cumulative burden is the sum of the log-transformed and standardized values of bacterial counts.</p>6<p>Bacterial counts in 1×10<b>³</b> ng/µl.</p

Adjusted odds ratios for gastric precancerous lesions in relation to selected periodontal pathogen DNA levels and stratified by periodontal disease severity¹.

<p>PD = Pocket Depth, CAL = Clinical Attachment Loss.</p>1<p>Cut-points for periodontal disease severity were determined at the median.</p>2<p>ORs estimated in relation to a standard deviation increase in the log-transformed bacterial DNA levels and adjusted for gender, age, race, smoking status, educational attainment, BMI, and <i>H. pylori</i> status.</p>3<p>Cumulative bacterial burden is a summary measure estimated by standardizing each bacterial DNA level (dividing each person-specific value by the log-transformed population standard deviation) and summing these values across all four species.</p>4<p>P-value for the cross-product term of each log-transformed bacterial DNA level and each periodontal index entered as continuous variables.</p