Periodontal infection and subclinical atherosclerosis: the role of high-density lipoprotein as a modifying factor.

Background: Periodontitis is suggested to enhance the process of vascular inflammation leading to atherosclerosis. The purpose was to study the relation between periodontal infection and subclinical atherosclerosis, and whether this relation is dependent on high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels.

Methods: A secondary analysis of the data of a diabetic study, confined to 60 dentate subjects who underwent clinical examinations in 1990-1992 and in 1996-1998, was carried out.

Dental check-ups in 31-year-olds in relation to optimism and life satisfaction.

Objective: To analyse the impact of optimism and life satisfaction on dental check-ups.

Basic Research Design: A cross-sectional study.

Participants: The data used in this study consists of a postal questionnaire sent to the members of the 1966 Birth Cohort in Northern Finland.

The relation of tobacco smoking to tooth loss among young adults.

Earlier studies have associated smoking with a higher rate of dental caries, periodontal disease and tooth loss. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine whether smoking is associated with tooth loss among young adults. The data consist of the 1966 birth cohort of Northern Finland, which is an unselected general population birth cohort (n = 12 058).

Relationship of depressive symptoms to edentulousness, dental health, and dental health behavior.

We investigated the relationship of edentulousness, dental health, and dental health behavior to depressive symptoms in the 55-year-old population of Oulu (a medium-sized Finnish town), 780 of whom (78%) participated. The dental examination included an assessment of oral health status. Depressive symptoms were determined with the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (ZSDS).

Depressive symptoms favor abundant growth of salivary lactobacilli.

Objective: The purpose was to study the growth of lactobacilli in subjects with depressive symptoms in the total 55-year-old population of Oulu (a medium-sized town in Finland); 780 people participated.

Methods: The dental examination included measurements of salivary lactobacillus growth with the Dentocult-LB method; measurements of salivary flow rate, pH, and buffering capacity; and assessment of oral health status. Depressive symptoms were determined with the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (ZSDS).