Sleepless smokers are at greatest risk for poor oral health, according to a Japanese study looking at the risk factors for gum disease. The researchers tracked 219 factory workers from 1999 to 2003.
The workers were evaluated on the following lifestyle factors: exercise, smoking, hours of sleep, nutrition, stress, hours worked, and eating breakfast. Smoking was found to be the leading factor independently associated with the progression of periodontal (gum) disease, according to the report published in the latest issue of the Journal of Periodontology. More than 41 percent of the workers with progressive periodontal disease were smokers, the researchers found.
The lack of sleep was the second most important factor. Workers who got seven to eight hours of sleep per night had less periodontal disease progression than those who slept six hours or less per night.
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