Reducing uncertainty in estimating associations of oral exposures with Helicobacter pylori serology in the general population

Schwahn, Christian; Samietz, Stefanie; Mundt, Torsten; Völzke, Henry; Kocher, Thomas; Mayerle, Julia; Holtfreter, Birte; Lerch, Markus M.; Biffar, Reiner and Schulz, Christian (2018): Reducing uncertainty in estimating associations of oral exposures with Helicobacter pylori serology in the general population. In: Journal of Clinical Periodontology, Vol. 45, No. 9: pp. 1056-1068

Abstract

AimEvidence for reducing Helicobacter (H.) pylori by periodontal therapy comes from small studies in China, limiting generalizability. To estimate the association between periodontal disease and anti-H.pylori IgG titer levels in a European country, we used population-based data from the Study of Health in Pomerania. Materials and Methods: For pocket depth as the primary exposure, we restricted the age range to participants younger than 60years (n=2,481) to avoid selection bias due to edentulism in this cross-sectional study. For the full age range up to 81years, we chose the number of missing teeth (n=3,705). Results: The association between pocket depth and the outcome was weak. Given the ceiling effect for the number of missing teeth (ordinal logistic regression;odds ratio of the interquartile range effect=1.6;95% CI: 1.3-1.9;p-value for linearity=0.005), we checked whether wearing removable dental prosthesis was associated with higher anti-H.pylori IgG titer levels (odds ratio=1.3;95% CI: 1.1-1.5). Conclusion: sTooth loss and wearing removable dental prosthesis were weakly to moderately associated with higher anti-H.pylori IgG titer levels in the general population of a European country.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Faculties: Medicine
• Subjects: 600 Technology > 610 Medicine and health
• ISSN: 0303-6979
• Language: English