Pulmonary disease and periodontal health: a meta-analysis

Objective: Research has shown a positive relationship between pulmonary and periodontal disease. However, the relationship remains unclear. The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the associations between pulmonary disease and periodontal health.

Materials and methods: MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Science Citation Index, Wanfang, and CNKI were searched for all the relevant studies of relationship between pulmonary disease and periodontal health. Weighted mean difference (WMD)/odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to assess the strength of the association.

Results: Thirty-seven studies were included in this meta-analysis. Pooled analysis showed a significant association between pulmonary and periodontal disease (adjusted OR, 1.93; 95%CI: 1.60-2.33; P < 0.05), and pooled adjusted OR was 1.64, 3.03, and 2.21 in COPD, asthma, and pneumonia, respectively. The pooled analysis also showed that patients with pulmonary disease suffered from worse periodontal health as most periodontal indexes in those patients were poorer.

Conclusions: There is a strong association between pulmonary disease and periodontal health. Clinical trials analyzing the causality and pathological basis of the association of these two diseases are needed.