Sedative load, carious teeth and infection in the periodontium among community-dwelling older people

Objective: To study the relation of sedative load to carious teeth and periodontal pocketing - indication of infectious periodontal disease - among older people. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was based on a subpopulation of 158 community-dwelling, dentate, non-smoking, 75-year-old or older people from the Oral Health Geriatric Multidisciplinary Strategy study. The data were collected by interviews and clinical oral examinations during 2004-2005. Sedative load was measured by means of the sedative load model, and Poisson multivariate regression models were used to estimate relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: Participants with a sedative load of either 1-2 (n = 31) or 3 (n = 12) had an increased likelihood of having carious teeth (RR: 1.8, CI: 1.2-2.6 and RR: 2.4, CI: 1.4-4.1, respectively) compared to participants without a sedative load. There was an inverse association between sedative load and the number of teeth with periodontal pockets. Conclusions: Presence of dental caries was associated with the use of drugs with sedative properties. The use of drugs with sedative properties was not associated with the presence of periodontal pockets.