Sublingual varices in relation to smoking, cardiovascular diseases, denture wearing, and consuming vitamin rich foods

OBJECTIVES: To identify potential risk factors such as smoking, cardiovascular diseases (CVD), denture wearing, and consuming vitamin rich foods, and its relation to the development of sublingual varices (SLV). METHODS: This cross-sectional observational study was conducted on patients who attended the Department of Dentistry at The University of Jordan Hospital, Amman, Jordan between February and May 2013. Clinical examinations and inspections of 391 patients (203 males and 188 females), 13-74 years of age were conducted to determine the presence of SLV. Sublingual varices were classified into 2 categories: grade 0 (few or none visible), and grade one (moderate or severe). Frequency distributions of both SLV and risk factors were obtained. Multiple logistic regression analysis and Chi-square test were used to analyze the influence of individual risk factors on the incidence of SLV. RESULTS: There were 88 subjects (22.5%) who had SLV. In the multivariate logistic regression model, SLV were significantly associated with age (odds ratio [OR]: 2.27, p=0.008) with highest occurrences in the eighth decade of life, gender (OR: 2.74, p=0.001), smoking (OR: 2.93, p=0.002), denture wearing (OR: 2.03, p=0.044), and CVD (OR: 4.01, p=0.00). CONCLUSION: The presence of SLV could be indicative of some potential risk factors including old age, female gender, and denture wearing, and may alert the dental clinician to recognize underlying systemic conditions, particularly CVD.