Evaluation of the Effect of Antihypertensive Drugs on the Values of Dental Pulp Oxygen Saturation in Hypertension Patients: A Case-Control Study

Purpose This study aimed to know about the positive or negative effect of antihypertensive drugs of different groups on the values of dental pulp oxygen saturation in hypertension patients. Materials and Methods A case-control study to evaluate the impact of the antihypertensive drugs on the values of dental pulp oxygen saturation in hypertension patients. The studied sample consisted of 40 participants, and they were distributed into two groups: Group I (n=20): Hypertension patients treated with antihypertensive drugs, and Group II (n=20): Healthy participants. A finger pulse oximeter was recorded after a rest period of 15 minutes by BCI® Advisor® vital signs monitor. The patient was then asked to use a chlorhexidine digluconate mouth rinse for five minutes, and the two dental pulp pulse oximeters for the central upper incisors were also recorded for all participants. Data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test. Results ​​​​​​The results showed that there was no significant difference between the finger pulse oximeters of the two studied groups (P-value = 0.421). The two dental pulp oxygen saturation was higher than the control group with statistically significant (P-value = 0.043, P-value = 0.002). Conclusions Within the limitation of this study, it can be concluded that antihypertensive drugs increase the dental pulp oxygen saturation in patients with hypertension who are treated with antihypertensive drugs, and thus there is a positive effect of these drugs in stimulating the dental pulp.