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Periodontal Disease Does Not Augment Later Risk of Developing Psoriasis
Findings from previous research have implied that chronic periodontitis may be a risk factor for the development of psoriasis, although this correlation has never been validated with regard to all of the degrees of severity of periodontal disease (PD) and could be due to common risk factors for both conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and smoking.
In a recent publication in Scientific Reports, researchers conducted a nationwide population-based retrospective cohort study. The researchers sought to ascertain if PD was an independent risk factor correlated with an augmented risk for the development of psoriasis. In this study, the researchers theorized that PD is “an independent risk factor for subsequent psoriasis.”
Researchers compiled data between 2002 and 2007 using a National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) customized database. The study population was comprised of 8,210,824 individuals aged ≥ 20 years who had medical and oral checkups from the National Health Screening Program on the same day, which was designated as the index date. Using the NHIS database, researchers followed participants until 2018 for a diagnosis of subsequent psoriasis.
The researchers eliminated patients from the study population based on the following reasons: lacked significant data, died during the study period, or had a confirmed diagnosis of psoriasis before the study period. After adjusting for these factors, the study involved 7,319,596 individuals, and after conducting an oral examination, the data revealed that 3,682,468 participants representing 50.3% of the study population, had PD, and in the control group, 3,637,128 did not have PD.
The authors indicated that after correcting for age and gender, there was no noteworthy expansion in the incidence of subsequent psoriasis in patients with PD. The authors noted that their study did not find any evidence of an augmented risk of psoriasis in either early or advanced PD as an independent risk factor. They also noted that based on their findings and data from other studies, they consider PD to be a comorbidity associated with psoriasis but that general PD is not an independent risk factor for subsequent psoriasis.
With regard to their findings, the authors wrote, “The incidence rates of psoriasis per 1000 person-years were 0.36 and 0.34 in the periodontal disease group and control groups, respectively. After adjusting for potential cofactors, no significant increase in risk (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.994; 95% confidence interval, 0.974–1.015) was observed.”
They also noted comparable results when investigating the probability of developing psoriasis among patients who needed scaling or periodontal surgery. The authors also indicated that their findings did not confirm their initial hypothesis; however, they are beneficial for future studies exploring the correlation between psoriasis and poor oral hygiene.
“While previous studies have suggested that periodontal disease, specifically chronic periodontitis, may be an independent risk factor for psoriasis, our study found no evidence to support this claim. None of the oral examination results indicating periodontal disease were statistically associated with a significant increase in the risk of subsequent psoriasis. Consequently, it appears unnecessary to conduct routine clinical examinations of periodontal disease patients for possible psoriasis diagnosis. Further studies are needed to clarify the relationship between psoriasis and periodontal disease.,” concluded the authors.
Reference
Baek, Y.S., Kwak, EJ., Kim, Y.C. et al. Periodontal disease does not increase the risk of subsequent psoriasis. Sci Rep 13, 5942 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-32907-8.
