BACKGROUND:

The association between periodontal disease treatment and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) remains unclear. This study aims to determine whether surgical periodontal treatment reduces ESRD risk.

METHODS:

From the insurance claims data of patients with periodontal disease who were free of ESRD from 1997 to 2009, 35,496 patients were identified who underwent surgery for subgingival curettage and/or periodontal flap and are considered the treatment cohort. For comparison, 141,824 patients who did not undergo these treatments were considered the no-treatment cohort. Follow-ups were performed until the end of 2009 to estimate the incidence and risk of ESRD in these two cohorts. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to estimate the related hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of ESRD.

RESULTS:

The incidence of ESRD was lower in the treatment cohort than in the no-treatment cohort (4.66 versus 7.38 per 10,000 person-years), with an adjusted HR of 0.59 (95% CI = 0.46 to 0.75). Sex- and age-specific analysis showed that the incidence rate ratio of the treatment cohort to the no-treatment cohort was higher for women than for men and declined with age. The risks of ESRD were consistently lower in the treatment cohort even when compared by comorbidity.

CONCLUSIONS:

Patients with periodontal disease who undergo procedures for subgingival curettage and/or periodontal flap have a remarkably decreased risk of ESRD.