Association between oral health status and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Korean adults

Objectives This study aimed to elucidate the association between oral health status and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Korean adults (>= 40 years old) using a representative national dataset from the 6th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (6th KNHANES, 2013-2015). Methods Participants aged >= 40 years from the 6th KNHANES who had received an oral and pulmonary function tests (N = 7719) were included in this study. The participant characteristics according to COPD were compared using t-test and chi-squared test. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the association between oral health status and COPD. Results Participants with poor periodontal status exhibited a higher prevalence of COPD. Moreover, patients with COPD had a greater number of missing teeth than those without COPD. The logistic regression model adjusted for demographic, socioeconomic, health- and oral health-related factors showed that the periodontal status was not significantly associated with COPD, while participants with more missing teeth had a significantly increased possibility of having COPD. Conclusions This study revealed that loss of teeth in adults aged >= 40 years was associated with COPD.