The association between periodontitis and sleep duration

AimDue to its potential to influence systemic inflammation and oxidative stress, and to predispose to bacterial infections, sleep duration could potentially be a risk factor for periodontitis. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate if there was in 2012 an association between periodontitis and sleep duration in a representative sample of the South Korean population. Materials and MethodsA total of 5812 subjects representative of 39.4 million ofadults were examined. Multivariate logistic regressions were applied controlling for age, gender, education, smoking status, alcoholism and consumption frequency of coffee, tea, chocolate and red wine. ResultsCompared to the group sleeping 5h/day, the adjusted odds ratios for periodontitis prevalence defined as Community Periodontal Index (CPI)=4 were OR=2.46 (95% CI: 1.20-5.06) in the 6h/day sleepers group, OR=2.66 (95% CI: 1.35-5.25) in the 7h/day sleepers group, OR=2.29 (95% CI: 1.13-4.63) in the 8h/day sleepers group and OR=4.27 (95% CI: 1.83-9.97) in the 9h/day sleepers group. The association has shown to be highlighted in middle-aged people, females, non-smokers, lower educated, with lower lead and higher cadmium blood levels and with higher carotene dietary intake ones and to be partially mediated by lipid profile alterations, diabetes, serum Vitamin D levels and WBC count. ConclusionsA novel, direct and independent association between sleep duration and the prevalence of periodontitis was found. However, it needs to be investigated how the factors influencing the sleep duration affect this association.