Alcohol Intake Influences the Occurrence and Progression of Periodontitis Differently According to Sex and Country Sociodemographic Development: A Two-Stage Systematic Review.

AIMS: To conduct an overview and systematic evaluation of prospective cohort studies on whether alcohol intake is associated with the incidence and progression of periodontitis.

METHODS

Nine databases were searched by two independent reviewers up to November 2021 according to prespecified eligibility criteria. Risk of Bias in Systematic Reviews and Risk of Bias in Non-Randomized Studies of Interventions were used for risk of bias assessment and certainty of evidence was assessed using the GRADE approach. Random-effects pair-wise meta-analyses were performed with data from cohort studies on the effects of higher levels of alcohol intake compared with current non-drinking to determine risk ratios (RR) and confidence intervals of periodontitis.

RESULTS

The four systematic reviews were at high risk of bias and concluded that alcohol intake is associated with periodontitis regardless of the study design. Five reports from seven cohort studies contributed to the meta-analyses and no statistically significant differences were found for higher levels of consumption regarding the risk of periodontitis, except for men from countries with low- and high-middle socio-demographic index (RR = 1.30, 95% CI: 1.13-1.46), with low certainty evidence.

CONCLUSION

Higher levels of alcohol consumption seem to be part of the causal mechanism of periodontitis when cooccurring with male sex in underdeveloped countries. No conclusion can be drawn regarding alcohol use disorders or patterns of consumption.