Is There an Association Between Parkinson’s Disease and Periodontitis? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND: Multiple observational studies have yielded controversial results regarding the association between Parkinson’s disease (PD) and periodontitis. OBJECTIVE: This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to ascertain their bidirectional relationship. METHODS: A literature search for relevant studies was performed in PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases from inception to December 19, 2022. Effect sizes (ES) with 95% confidence intervals were pooled under the random-effects model. Then, leave-one-out sensitivity analysis and contour-enhanced funnel plot were applied to assess the stability of the results. RESULTS: A total of 34 studies and 24 studies were included for systematic review and quantitative meta-analysis, respectively. Pooled ES indicated that periodontitis was not significantly associated with PD risk (HR = 1.13, 95% CI 0.88–1.45, n = 3; OR = 1.94, 95% CI 0.55–6.90, n = 7), while the Mendelian randomization study revealed no association between PD and periodontitis risk (coefficient [B] = –0.0001, standard error = 0.0001, p = 0.19). Furthermore, PD patients exhibited higher levels of periodontal pocket depth (SMD = 1.10, 95% CI 0.53–1.67), clinical attachment level (SMD = 1.40, 95% CI 0.55–2.26), plaque index (SMD = 0.81, 95% CI 0.22–1.39), and Oral Health Impact Profile-14 score (SMD = 0.91, 95% CI 0.33–1.49) compared to healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS: Our meta-analysis identified no bidirectional association between PD risk and periodontitis risk, though the prevalence of periodontitis and poorer oral status was higher in PD patients.