Weak maximum bite force may foreshadow CVD

A lower maximum bite force (MBF), as a quantitative measure of masticatory function, seems to be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), a recent study has found.

A total of 1,547 participants (mean age 66.1 years, 895 women) with no CVD history participated in the study, who had undergone basic dental and physical between 2008 and 2013. MBF was measured at these sessions using a 98-µm-thick pressure-sensitive sheet. Participant records were then followed for the first development of stroke or coronary heart disease (CHD).

Over a mean follow-up of 3.5 years, new CVD occurred in 32 patients; ten were stroke events while the remaining 22 were myocardial infarctions. Participants were then divided into quintiles of MBF and subsequent analyses was sex-stratified. Because there were fewer cases in women, only three MBF categories were used, combining the second and third then the fourth and fifth quintiles.

Multivariate-adjusted proportional hazards model showed that participants in the highest MBF quintile were significantly less likely to develop CVDs than the reference comparators in the lowest quintile (hazard ratio [HR], 0.19, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.04–0.96). There was a significant trend of decreasing CVD risk with increasing MBF (p=0.03).

A similar effect was observed in women (Q4+5 vs Q1: HR, 0.11, 95 percent CI, 0.01–1.00; p_trend=0.03). In men, while the risk of CVD was lower in the highest MBF quintile (HR, 0.25, 95 percent CI, 0.03–2.45), the inverse correlation was not significant (p=0.28).

Taking MBF as a continuous variable revealed a similar pattern of effect: CVD risks were higher with decreasing MBF, though risk estimates failed to reach statistical significance in men.

“Evaluating MBF as an index of masticatory function and providing appropriate dental intervention based on the results in order to improve and maintain MBF may contribute to the prevention of CVD,” said the researchers.