Is there a relationship between dental and/or periodontal pathology and values of C-reactive protein, Homocysteine and Lipoprotein (a) in patients with cardiovascular disease? A case control study

Background Dental pathology [dental caries (DC) and apical periodontitis (AP)] and/or periodontal pathology (PD) could influence the onset of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The relationship between conventional CVD risk factors and dento-periodontal pathology has been well demonstrated; however, there is less evidence of the relationship between these pathologies and emerging or unconventional CVD risk factors, including C-reactive protein (CRP), Homocysteine ​​(Hcy) and Lipoprotein a (Lp (a). Methods This case-control study included 99 patients with CVD and 50 healthy controls. All participants underwent a detailed medical history, an intraoral examination, an orthopantomography and a blood test. All the analyses were performed on the data set, using all available information with intention to treat criteria. Results A greater number of patients in the study group presented PD (p <0.001) and AP (p <0.001) compared to the control group. However, we did not find significant differences in the prevalence of caries between both groups (p <0.287). Moreover, none of oral variables was significantly related to concentrations of CRP, Hcy or Lp(a). Conclusions Patients with CVD present more PD and a greater number of AP, suggesting an association between dento-periodontal pathology and cardiovascular pathology. The concentrations of CRP, homocysteine and Lp(a) are not related to the degree of dento-periodontal pathology, so we believe that more studies are necessary to assess this possible association.