Association between dental caries and out-of-hospital cardiac arrests of cardiac origin in Japan

BackgroundOral infection contributes to atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease. We hypothesized that dental caries may be associated with out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) of cardiac origin, but not non-cardiac origin.Methods and resultsWe compared the age-adjusted incidence of OHCA (785,591 cases of OHCA: 55.4% of cardiac origin and 44.6% of non-cardiac origin) to the age-adjusted prevalence of dental caries between 2005 and 2011 in the 47 prefectures of Japan. In both the total population and males over 65 years, the number of cases of dental caries was significantly associated with the number of OHCA of total and cardiac origin from 2005 to 2011, but not those of non-cardiac origin. In the total population, the age-adjusted prevalence of dental caries was not significantly associated with the age-adjusted incidence of OHCA (total OHCA: r correlation coefficient = 0.22, p = 0.14; OHCA of cardiac origin: r = 0.25, p = 0.09; OHCA of non-cardiac origin: r = −0.002, p = 0.99). Among male patients over 65 years, the age-adjusted prevalence of dental caries was significantly associated with OHCA of total and cardiac origin, but not non-cardiac origin (total OHCA: r = 0.47, p < 0.001; OHCA of cardiac origin: r = 0.37, p = 0.01; OHCA of non-cardiac origin: r = 0.28, p = 0.054).ConclusionsWhile oral hygiene is important in all age groups, it may be particularly associated with OHCAs of cardiac origin in males over 65 years.