Oral health status of patients with acute coronary syndrome--a case control study.

BACKGROUND

The aim of this investigation was to assess the state of oral health of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and to compare this with that of a provably healthy control group (H).

METHODS

33 patients who were receiving treatment as inpatients following acute myocardial infarction or unstable angina pectoris took part in the study (ACS-group). A healthy control group (H-group) made up of blood donors, was formed following matching for age, gender, and smoking habit with the study patient group.The dental investigation consisted of the dental status (DMF-T), a plaque-Index (PI), an assessment of gingival inflammation (GI) and periodontal situation (Periodontal Screening Index: PSR(®)/PSI), and attachment loss (AL). Statistical evaluation: t-test, Mann-Whitney-test and chi- squared test (level of significance p < 0.05).

RESULTS

The mean DMF-T of the ACS-group (18.7 ± 6.8) and the H-group (19.4 ± 5.1) showed no difference (p = 0.7). Although, in the ACS-group the average loss of teeth (M-T: 8.4 ± 5.2) was higher than in the H-group (M-T: 5.8 ± 6.6) the difference was not significant (p = 0.2). Whereas with the PI no difference between the two groups was found (p = 0.9), the ACS-group showed significantly more signs of inflammation (GI) than the H-group (p = 0.045). In the case of PSR(®)/PSI, there was no difference between the two groups (p = 0.7). With regard to AL, no difference was revealed between ACS- and H-group (p = 0.2).

CONCLUSION

Although, the state of oral health of the ACS-group differed only insignificantly from that of control, patients with ACS showed more signs of gingival inflammation and a higher loss of teeth.