The Prevalence of Systemic Diseases and Its Association with Periodontal Disease among Patients Referred to a Government Periodontal Specialist Clinic in Melaka, Malaysia

Abstract

Abstract Aim: The aim of the study was to identify the prevalence of systemic diseases among patients referred to a newly established government periodontal specialist clinic and to analyze the association between the severity (staging) and the rate of progression (grading) of periodontitis with the presence of these systemic diseases. Materials and Methods: Records of all new patients within the first 5 years of the clinic’s operation were reviewed, and their periodontitis status was classified according to the 2017 World Workshop Classification system. The association between the severity of periodontitis and the presence of systemic diseases was analyzed using the Chi-square test, whereas Fisher’s exact test was used to determine the association between the rate of progression and the presence of systemic diseases. Results: A total of 489 dental records were reviewed. We found that 40.1% of our patients suffered from systemic diseases. The two most common systemic diseases were cardiovascular disease (CVD) (11.4%) and diabetes mellitus (9.4%). No significant association was found between the severity of periodontitis and the presence of systemic diseases (P = 0.376). However, we found a significant association between the rate of progression of periodontitis and systemic diseases (P = 0.004). There was also a significant association between the rate of progression of periodontitis and CVDs (P = 0.001). Conclusion: The rate of progression of periodontitis is significantly associated with the presence of systemic diseases and CVDs. This highlights that periodontitis is not a stand-alone disease. Instead, it reaches across a spectrum of other noncommunicable diseases. The collaboration between medical and dental practitioners can further improve the management of this group of patients.