An interesting article titled “Leisure-Time and Occupational Physical Activity Demonstrate Divergent Associations with Periodontitis: A Population-Based Study,” appears in the January 2, 2023, edition of Journal of Clinical Periodontology written by Marruganti Crystal et al. The article discusses how physical activity can help to reduce inflammation, which can potentially decrease the risk of developing periodontitis also known as gum disease. Reducing gum disease has been discussed before on this site, see for example the posts Blueberry extract could help treat periodontitis and Natural Supplements to Improve your Periodontal Health.
In the article the authors examine data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2009-2014 database. They retrieved data from 10,679 adults and assessed physical activity from the Global Physical Activity questionnaire which classified activity as either high or low leisure-time or occupational activity. A full-mouth periodontal examination was used to assess periodontal status and patients were classified according to criteria from the American Academy of Periodontology and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The authors applied regression analyses to study the association between leisure-time or occupational activity and periodontitis.
The authors found high levels of physical activity during leisure time as a protective indicator for periodontitis (odds ratio [OR], 0.81; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.72, 0.92). They also found that high levels of physical activity from occupational activity showed a protective indicator for periodontitis (OR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.04, 1.30). In addition it was found that, the combination of low leisure time physical activity and high occupational activity showed a cumulative independent association with periodontitis (OR, 1.47; 95% CI, 1.26, 1.72), and that high occupational activity showed a strong independent esimate of severe periodontis (OR=1.29; 95% CI: 1.09, 1.53). The authors state:
“Leisure-time and occupational physical activity demonstrated divergent associations with periodontitis….While leisure time physical activity can reduce low-grade systemic inflammation and oxidative stress, scientific evidence indicated that occupational physical activity…exerts an opposite effect.”
The results were interesting in that leisure-time physical activity, such as sports and recreational walking, showed a protective effect against periodontitis, yet occupational activity, such as household chores or construction work, showed a risk for periodontitis. Occupational physical activity, can include static load and repetitive movements which can cause negative effects on health and even low-grade inflammation. The authors note several limitations of the study including the cross-sectional design which prevents the evaluation of causality and restricts the value of the reported mediation analyses. In the future the authors suggest conducting randomized clinical trials to explore the role of physical activity on the prevention of gum disease and as part of the first stage of periodontal therapy,