Objective: To assess the cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) in patients attending the dental hospital at the University of Barcelona.Design and method: Patients attending the University dental hospital for any reason were systematically screened for periodontal disease and hypertension. Hypertension was considered in those with known hypertension and under pharmacological treatment, or it was suspected by measuring office blood pressure (BP) according to ESH guidelines. In addition, anthropometric parameters, other CVRF and characteristics of the buco-dental examination were recorded. Results: In total, 691 patients consecutively attended and agreed to participate in the study were prospectively evaluated (56.6% women, mean age 45 ± 18 yr). One-hundred ninety-seven (28.5%) individuals were found to have hypertension, 131 known hypertensives and 66 (9.6% of total patients) newly detected. Prevalence of other CVRF were: obesity, 115 (16.5%); type2 diabetes, 37 (5.4%), dyslipidaemia, 60 (8.7%), current smokers, 132 (19.5%). Previous cardiovascular disease (CVD) was present in 18 (2.6%) patients. Moreover, 153 patients (22.3%) had grade III or IV periodontal disease, and sublingual varices (SV) were observed in 206 (30%) patients. Differences between patients with or without previous CVD were explored. Variables with statistically significant differences were included in a logistic binary regression (backward stepwise) model, showing that sublingual varices, in addition to sex and known hypertension, were the main factors associated to previous CVD (Table) Conclusions: 1) sublingual varices are associated to CVD; 2) dentist consultants should systematically include screening for hypertension and sublingual varices, in order to detect patients with high risk for CVD.
Oliveras et al. (Fri,) studied this question.