Oral health status of patients with acute coronary syndrome – a case control study

33 patients who were receiving treatment as inpatients following acute myocardial infarction or unstable angina pectoris took part in the study (ACS-group). A healthy control group (H-group) made up of blood donors, was formed following matching for age, gender, and smoking habit with the study patient group.The dental investigation consisted of the dental status (DMF-T), a plaque-Index (PI), an assessment of gingival inflammation (GI) and periodontal situation (Periodontal Screening Index: PSR？/PSI), and attachment loss (AL). Statistical evaluation: t-test, Mann–Whitney-test and chi- squared test (level of significance p？<？0.05).The mean DMF-T of the ACS-group (18.7？±？6.8) and the H-group (19.4？±？5.1) showed no difference (p？=？0.7). Although, in the ACS-group the average loss of teeth (M-T: 8.4？±？5.2) was higher than in the H-group (M-T: 5.8？±？6.6) the difference was not significant (p？=？0.2). Whereas with the PI no difference between the two groups was found (p？=？0.9), the ACS-group showed significantly more signs of inflammation (GI) than the H-group (p？=？0.045). In the case of PSR？/PSI, there was no difference between the two groups (p？=？0.7). With regard to AL, no difference was revealed between ACS- and H-group (p？=？0.2).Although, the state of oral health of the ACS-group differed only insignificantly from that of control, patients with ACS showed more signs of gingival inflammation and a higher loss of teeth.