Association of Dental Infections with Intracranial Atherosclerotic Stenosis

Introduction: Periodontal disease (PD) and dental caries are oral infections leading to tooth loss that are associated with atherosclerosis and cerebrovascular disease. We assessed the hypothesis that PD and caries are associated with asymptomatic intracranial atherosclerosis (ICAS) in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. Methods: Full-mouth clinical periodontal measurements (7-indices) collected at 6 sites per tooth from 6155 subjects from the Dental Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (DARIC) without prior stroke were used to differentiate seven periodontal disease stages (PPC-I to VII) and dental caries on coronal dental surface (DS) and dental root surface (DRS). All participants who had a previous brain MRI were eligible for imaging. A stratified subset underwent 3D time-of-flight MR angiogram and 3D high isotropic resolution black blood MRI. ICAS was graded according to the criteria established by the Warfarin-Aspirin Symptomatic Intracranial Disease (WASID) trial. We evaluated the relationship between PD stage and dental caries with asymptomatic ICAS, graded as no ICAS,
Source: Cerebrovascular Diseases - Category: Neurology Source Type: research