Routine dental care may support the overall health of patients with the serious liver condition cirrhosis, according to a news story from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and the Richmond Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center.
Furthermore, this link may be due to interactions between oral bacteria, inflammation, and liver disease, according to the story dated March 26.
“It is time for us to take orodental health seriously, especially since we have few ways to prevent cancer and disease progression in these patients,” Dr. Jasmohan Bajaj of the VCU Stravitz-Sanyal Institute for Liver Disease and Metabolic Health and the Richmond VA Medical Center, said in the story.
For the study, the researchers analyzed medical records from 47,809 veterans diagnosed with compensated cirrhosis using U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs data from 2005 to 2023. Compensated cirrhosis was defined as the stage of liver disease in which the liver is scarred but still functioning, according to the story.
Only 17.5% of participants received regular dental care, defined as at least one cleaning or periodontal maintenance visit per year starting two years before diagnosis. After adjusting for factors that included age, medical history, medications, and healthcare use, differences emerged between those who received dental care and those who did not.
Patients with annual dental visits were about 27% less likely to develop hepatocellular carcinoma over a two-year follow-up period. Also, they were about 15% less likely to develop ascites and about 19% less likely to experience hepatic encephalopathy. Additionally, they were approximately 15% less likely to be hospitalized for any cause and about 20% less likely to be hospitalized for liver-related complications, according to the results.
No significant differences were found for variceal bleeding or spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, and colonoscopy rates did not show similar benefits, suggesting that oral healthcare itself may play a distinct role, potentially reducing inflammation and bacterial burden linked to cirrhosis-related complications.
However, further research is needed to determine whether these findings apply to the broader population, as the study focused on veterans who are typically older and have higher rates of chronic illness, according to the story.
