Associations between self-reported oral health and incident stroke: a prospective analysis of the UK Biobank

TL;DR

This study finds that certain oral health issues are linked to a higher risk of stroke and heart attack.

Contribution

The study identifies specific oral conditions associated with increased stroke and heart attack risk using UK Biobank data.

Findings

Painful gums are associated with a 31% increased risk of stroke.

Loose teeth are linked to a 45% higher stroke risk.

Denture use is connected to a 23% increased stroke risk.

Abstract

This study aims to explore whether different types of oral conditions are associated with incident stroke risk.

This cohort study included 476,868 individuals without outcome events at baseline, multivariable models were constructed using Cox proportional hazard regression to assess the association between different oral conditions and the incidence of stroke, ischemic stroke (IS) and myocardial infarction (MI). Our fully adjusted model showed that individuals with painful gums [HRpainful gums: 1.31 (1.06, 1.63)], loose teeth [HRloose teeth: 1.45 (1.20, 1.77)] and dentures [HRdentures: 1.23 (1.12, 1.36)] have increased risk for stroke incidence.

Individuals with painful gums, loose teeth and dentures have increased risk for stroke, IS and MI incidence, this study helps to identify high-risk stroke participants.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-026-26397-2.

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