Relationship between chronic gingivitis and subsequent depression in 13,088 patients followed in general practices

Goal: The aim of this study was to analyze the association between chronic gingivitis and subsequent depression in patients aged ≥14 years who were followed up in general practices in the UK.

Methods: This study included patients aged ≥14 years who had received an initial diagnosis of chronic gingivitis in one of 256 general practices in the United Kingdom between January 2000 and December 2016 (index date). Patients without chronic gingivitis were matched (1:1) to those with chronic gingivitis by sex, age, index year, treating physician, and Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). For patients without chronic gingivitis, the index date was a randomly selected visit date between 2000 and 2016. The association between chronic gingivitis and the incidence of depression was investigated using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression analyses.

Results: This study included 6544 patients with chronic gingivitis and 6544 patients without chronic gingivitis [49.2% were women; mean (standard deviation) age 40.3 (19.1) years]. A total of 16.3% of individuals with chronic gingivitis and 8.8% of those without chronic gingivitis received an initial diagnosis of depression within 10 years of the index date (log-rank p-value<0.001). There was a positive and significant association between chronic gingivitis and depression in the overall sample [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.82, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.55-2.48]. These findings were corroborated in men and women and in all age groups with the exception of patients aged >65 years.

Conclusions: Our study demonstrated an association between chronic gingivitis and subsequent depression.