Assessment of oral health indices and heart rate variability in relation with oral and cardiovascular health.

Objective: To explore the relationship between oral health and cardiovascular health. Study Design: Cross Sectional Analytical study. Setting: Dental OPD, Baqai Dental College Karachi, Pakistan. Period: Jan 2023 – May 2023. Methods: The study participants older than 18 years were voluntarily recruited. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) recordings were taken for six minutes by applying HRV sensors either on index finger or ear lobe in relax sitting position according to the choice of study subjects. Dental health of participants DMFT and PDL indices were calculated, and the results were compared with HRV variables. Results: There was a significant increase in frequency of decayed, filled and missing teeth in older aged male and female participants. The periodontium of young participants were more healthier. Heartrate variability results show higher sympathetic predominance in participants with increased DMFT and PDL scores. Moreover, stress index and internal coherence levels is low with age in both male and female groups. Conclusion: Findings from this study suggest that participants with dental problems (tooth decay and poor oral health) have high sympathetic predominance and low Heart rate variability and poor cardiac health status. This study highly suggest the relation between poor oral health association with mortality of cardiac diseases.