Periodontal Health Among United States Postmenopausal Breast Cancer Survivors

Objective: The objective of this project was to determine the prevalence of periodontal conditions as well as dental care utilization among U.S. women with a diagnosis of breast cancer.

Method: Data for this cross-sectional study came from the 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Education Surveys, a representative sample of the United States population.  This analysis includes data from 5,756 U.S. women ages 50-85 years of age for which compete periodontal and cancer diagnosis data was available. The periodontal health status outcome variable was specified in two ways: healthy versus any periodontal disease (i.e., either gingival bleeding or periodontitis) and as a four-category outcome (i.e., healthy, gingival bleeding only, periodontitis only, or gingival bleeding and periodontitis). Associations between cancer status and periodontal conditions were evaluated with multiple logistic regression.

Result: Of the study population, 7% had a self-report diagnosis of breast cancer (yes/no). The prevalence of periodontal disease was 13%. Breast cancer survivors were more likely to be older than 55 years of age, white, non-smokers, have higher levels of education and income, have a higher prevalence of osteoporosis and utilize dental care. In unadjusted analysis, women with a diagnosis of breast cancer were nearly 2 times more likely to have periodontal disease (OR=1.93; 95% CI=1.10 to 3.71) as compared to women without a breast cancer diagnosis. After adjustment for age, race, education, poverty income ratio, osteoporosis status, dental care utilization and smoking status self-reported diagnosis of breast cancer was not associated with an increased risk of periodontal disease (OR=1.48; 95% CI: 0.91 to 2.39).

Conclusion: This study provides one of the first descriptive profiles of periodontal conditions among a nationally representative sample of adult women with breast cancer in the United States.  Further exploration should be done examining the oral health status of breast cancer survivors.