Particulate Matter 2.5 and Severe Periodontitis Among Colombian Adults.

Aims: The primary aim was to determine the association between particulate matter 2.5 (PM_2.5) concentration at municipality-level and severe periodontitis among adults. A second aim was to evaluate contemporaneous versus lagged effects of exposure to municipality-level PM_2.5 concentration on severe periodontitis.

Methods: We linked individual-level data from the latest National Oral Health Survey (ENSAB-IV) with satellite-based estimates of annual PM_2.5 concentrations at the surface level for municipalities in Colombia. Annual PM_2.5 concentrations were averaged over 3, 5 and 10  years to capture contemporaneous and lagged effects, respectively. Severe periodontitis was defined using three common case definitions. The association between municipality-level PM_2.5 concentration and severe periodontitis was tested in multilevel logistic regression models adjusting for covariates.

Results: Data from 9111 adults in 197 municipalities and 33 departments were analyzed. The prevalence of severe periodontitis varied from 10.4% to 29.8% depending on the case definition used. The mean PM_2.5 concentration was 18.5 (SD = 2.9), 19.1 (3.0) and 18.9 (2.8) μg/m³ over the past 3, 5 and 10 years. The municipality-level PM_2.5 concentration was not associated with severe periodontitis, irrespective of the assessment period for PM_2.5 concentration (3, 5, or 10  years) or the case definition of periodontitis used.

Conclusions: This study found no association between municipality-level PM_2.5 concentration and severe periodontitis among Colombian adults. No evidence of lagged effects was found either.