Overweight/obesity is a risk factor for periodontitis in young adults and adolescents: a systematic review

Aim: Periodontal disease is a silent epidemic, with a worldwide prevalence of 30-35%. The concept of periodontal diseases has evolved over time, to the current concept of being an exposure to risk factors associated with ageing. Risk factors of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases have been noted to contribute to its progression, leading to periodontitis in young adults. The question of this systematic review was: “Is overweight/obesity a risk factor for periodontitis in young adults and adolescents”.

Methods: A comprehensive robust search was carried out using PUBMED, MEDLINE, EMBASE, COCHRANE, WoS, TRIP, DARE, LILACS, CINAHL, PROQUEST, BIOSIS and Google scholar databases, using the Mesh/Index/Emtree terms of Obesity, Periodontitis and Young adults/adolescents. The Covidence tool was employed to screen title, abstracts and full texts of relevant studies. The inclusion criteria were cross-sectional, case control and cohort studies of adolescents and young adults with or without periodontitis and obesity. Studies were excluded were literature reviews, systematic reviews, dissertations, abstracts of conference papers, reviews by the publisher, research that lacked comparison or control groups (non-obese).

Results: A total of 7312 articles were found in the databases searched. From these. 6438 articles were reviewed for titles and abstracts after removal of duplicates. Reviewing the full text of included studies, it could be assumed that periodontitis is associated with obesity in young adults and adolescents. Hence it is expected that periodontitis is a consequence of risk factors (obesity) rather than ageing.

Conclusion: Obesity is a risk factor for periodontitis in young adults and adolescents.