Alcohol Use and the development of periodontal pockets

A team of researchers in Finland investigated whether alcohol use predicts the development of periodontal pockets over an 11-year follow-up period.
The study participants’ periodontal condition was examined both in the Health 2000 and 2011 Surveys. Participants were 30-65 years old, dentate, periodontally healthy, and did not have diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis at baseline in 2000. Alcohol use (amount [g/week], frequency [any alcohol or different beverages]) was recorded at baseline. Periodontal outcome measures in 2011 were the number of teeth with deepened (≥4 mm) periodontal pockets and the presence of deepened periodontal pockets.
Overall, the amount of alcohol use or use over the risk limit in 2000 was inconsistently associated with the development of periodontal pockets (IRRs varied from 0.6 to 1.0). The frequency of alcohol use (any alcohol or different beverages) had an inconsistent association with the presence of periodontal pockets (IRRs varied from 0.5 to 1.2) while there was an inverse association with the number of teeth with periodontal pockets. Among smokers, there were no clear associations between any of the exposures and either of the outcomes. The same was found among non-smokers except an inverse association was found between frequency of alcohol use and the number of teeth with periodontal pockets.
The study concludes that alcohol use was not consistently associated with the periodontal pocket development over a period of 11 years.
Source: Sankaranarayanan, R., Saxlin, T., Knuuttila, M., Ylöstalo, P. and Suominen, A.L. (2020), Alcohol use and the development of periodontal pockets: an 11‐year follow‐up study. J Periodontol. Accepted Author Manuscript.