Alcohol Consumption, Risk of Periodontitis and Change of Periodontal Parameters in a Population-Based Cohort Study.

AIM: To investigate the association of alcohol consumption with periodontitis risk and change in periodontal parameters over time. METHODS: Using data from 1285 participants of two population cohort studies embedded in the Study of Health in Pomerania, we associated baseline average alcohol consumption with incident periodontitis measured after a median follow-up time of 5.0 years, adjusting for confounding and selection bias using multivariable regression and multiple imputation. RESULTS: Baseline alcohol intake was prospectively associated with a higher risk of periodontitis (relative risk of 1.08 (95% confidence interval: 1.06, 1.10) and 1.23 (1.17, 1.28) for 30 and 60 g per day (g/day) versus 10 g/day), deeper periodontal pockets, higher clinical attachment levels (CAL) and a higher proportion of sites with probing depths and CAL >/= 3 mm and >/= 4 mm. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the hypothesis that higher alcohol intake modestly increases the risk of periodontitis. Sensitivity analysis suggested that unmeasured confounding and selection bias could explain the observed association.