Relationship Between Alcohol Consumption
And Severe Gum Disease

January, 2005
Journal of Periodontology

Relationship Between Drinking and Periodontitis:
The Hisayama Study

Participating in the study:

Dr. Yoshihiro Shimazaki: Department of Preventive Dentistry, Kyushu University Faculty of Dental Science, Fukuoka, Japan.

Toshiyuki Saito: Department of Preventive Dentistry, Kyushu University Faculty of Dental Science, Fukuoka, Japan.

Yutaka Kiyohara: Department of Medicine and Clinical Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University.

Isao Kato: Department of Medicine and Clinical Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University.

Michiaki Kubo: Department of Medicine and Clinical Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University.

Mitsuo Iida: Department of Medicine and Clinical Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University.

Yoshihisa Yamashita: Department of Preventive Dentistry, Kyushu University Faculty of Dental Science, Fukuoka, Japan.

BACKGROUND:
Although recent studies suggest a relationship between alcohol consumption and periodontal disease, the dose response relationship between drinking and the severity of periodontitis is unclear.

METHODS:
Alcohol consumption was evaluated using the frequency of drinking and the daily alcohol intake for 961 individuals aged 40 to 79 years. Periodontal status was evaluated using probing depth (PD) and clinical attachment loss (CAL).

RESULTS:
Alcohol consumption was linearly associated with the extent of PD and CAL in univariate analyses (P <0.001). In multivariate logistic regression analyses, the subjects drinking 15 to 29.9 g alcohol per day (odds ratio [OR] = 2.7; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.1 to 6.6) or more than 30 g per day (OR = 2.5; 95% CI = 1.1 to 5.7) had a significantly higher risk of having more than 35% of their teeth with PD 4 mm than non-drinkers, independent of other confounding variables. No significant relationship between drinking and CAL was observed in the multivariate analysis.

CONCLUSION:
These results suggest that the effect of drinking on periodontal condition is limited to subjects with deep periodontal pockets associated with more than one-third of their teeth.