Gum Disease May Leave You Itching
Patients with gum disease may face double the risk of developing atopic dermatitis, the chronic skin condition often referred to as eczema that causes red, itchy skin.
A recent study, led by Chien-Chang Liao of Taipei Medical University Hospital in Taiwan, showed that regular dental scaling serves as a preventive strategy to mitigate the risk of atopic dermatitis.
Although atopic dermatitis and gum disease are common chronic inflammatory diseases, their correlation remains poorly understood. Therefore, to explore the effects of dental scaling on the risk of eczema among patients with periodontitis, a retrospective cohort study using health insurance data from those age 20 and older with periodontitis was conducted. The data included 38,934 patients with gum disease and 38,934 without gum disease.
The patients were followed to monitor atopic dermatitis incidence and found that those with gum disease had an increased risk of developing eczema compared with those without gum disease. Furthermore, patients with gum disease who received dental scaling had a 67% reduction in the risk of developing eczema. Additionally, the risk of eczema was lowest in those with gum disease who underwent dental scaling more than four times.
Researchers acknowledge there are limitations to the data used since it didn’t report lifestyle, health behaviors, dietary factors, and physical activity, making it difficult to investigate their oral hygiene habits, like frequency of toothbrushing.
The study concludes that there is a significant association between periodontitis and increase risk of atopic dermatitis.
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