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Care-Givers' Dental Problems
Friday, May 11, 2007 at 07:49PM A new report states that links exist between stress of caregiving and dental illness.
The results showed that compared to non-caregivers, caregivers had poorer oral health, including a four-fold greater likelihood of having elevated plaque levels and more than double the risk of gingivitis.
Stress could also be linked to both elevated plaque levels and gingivitis, whereas high levels of cortisol were associated with elevated levels of plaque, but not gingivitis.
The participants’ levels of stress and depression symptoms were assessed and the levels of cortisol in their saliva analysed.
The reason for the association between poorer oral health and caregiving are not immune system-related changes, but rather the caregivers' lack of concern for their oral hygiene.
Even though it has been a long established fact, that depression and levels of the stress hormone cortisol are associated with a person's risk of illness and death from various conditions, up until now little research has looked at the role of these factors in oral health. Previous studies had shown that changes in caregiver's immune status played a role in caregivers' higher rates of periodontitis.
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