Hypertension and its association with the severity of chronic periodontitis: a preliminary study

Chronic periodontitis (CP) is an inflammatory disease of the supporting tissues of the teeth caused by specific microorganism.Hypertension is_one of the major causes cardiovascular disease --------nas recently drawn increasing attc~~1c11·be"ause of its potehtial relationship with cardiovascular disease. The objectives of this study were to detenmine the prevalence of the hypertension in CP patients as well as to evaluate the association between hypertension and severity of CP. One hundred and eighty five records of CP patients treated in Dental Clinic, Universiti Sains Malaysia Hospital (USM Hospital), Kelantan from 201 0 until 2013 were retrieved and reviewed. The diagnosis of periodontal disease and the presence of hypertension were recorded. The severity of chronic periodontitis was classified into mild, moderate and severe according to the clinical attachment loss. The data was obtained and analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. Majority of the subjects were from Malay ethnic group (94.4%) at the range age between 41 and 61 years (67.8%). In conclusion, the prevalence of hypertension in chronic periodontitis patients was 12.2%. There was no significant association between hypertension and seventy of CP (p=0.229)