Rapid weight gain linked with perio disease risk in men

With Easter approaching and a bountiful supply of chocolate on offer - please heed this cautionary advice from the Absolute Dental team.

A new study has found that males who rapidly gain weight had more periodontitis and periodontitis progression compared with those who had smaller gains.


The study, published in the Journal of Dental Research, found that:

Men who were overweight at baseline and gained weight most rapidly (> 0.19 kg/year or approximately 15 lb during follow-up) had significantly more PPD events than men in the lowest tertile of weight gain (≤ -0.05 kg/year).

Overweight men whose waist circumference increased more than 0.14-0.39 or more than 0.39 cm/year experienced more PPD events than men in the lowest tertile (≤ 0.14 cm/year).

Increase in arm fat area was associated with disease progression in normal-weight men.

"These results suggest that tracking adiposity changes with easily obtained anthropometric measures may help predict risk of periodontitis progression," the authors noted.

Waist circumference, as a surrogate measure of visceral fat, has been closely correlated with body mass index in estimating health risk including periodontal disease, study author Andrea Gorman explained.

"Now we can see that rates of gain in weight and adiposity, both visceral and subcutaneous, can impact progression of disease," she said. "Faster rates of weight gain and fat gain have worse outcomes."

Additional research in the area of obesity and periodontal disease should include analysis of blood samples for markers of inflammation, she added.

While some dentists may feel that nutrition falls outside of their scope of practice, educating both dental and dietetic students on the link between poor oral health and poor diet quality is essential to providing comprehensive and improved patient care, Gorman emphasized.

By expanding the professional relationships between dentists and dieticians, patients will benefit from a healthcare environment that is working together to improve overall health and well-being, she explained.

"As the practice of dentistry evolves, practitioners should be comfortable to screen and refer patients for nutrition education and counselling, especially if there are associated chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, or obesity," Gorman concluded.

Emma