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Frisk F, Hakeberg M et al. Acta Odontol Scand 2003; 61: 257–262

In an initial cohort of 1622 women randomly selected in Gothenburg in 1968 for examination every 12 years in a longitudinal medical and dental investigation, 90% took part; some were lost and younger groups were added as time passed. The present study used data from a survey in 1992-3.

In 1056 patients, 106 were diagnosed with coronary heart disease (CHD). There were significant differences between CHD and other patients in respect of mean number of teeth (13 v. 18), age (72 v. 65), hypertension, serum factors, obesity markers, smoking and life satisfaction. There were no differences in the mean numbers of teeth with root fillings (3.0 v. 3.4), or with periapical disease (0.5 v. 0.4). When a multivariate logistic regression model was developed, only tooth loss and age gave significant odds ratios: respectively, 2.7 and 1.07.

The authors discuss factors which might explain their findings, including the possible effects of diet as a common factor in CHD and tooth loss.