The impact of obesity on the outcome of periodontal disease treatment: Systematic review and meta‑analysis

Obesity and periodontitis are two commonly occurring disorders that affect a considerable amount of the world’s population. Several studies have mentioned that there may be a link between the two. The purpose of this systematic review was to determine whether there was a difference in response to nonsurgical periodontal therapies (NSPTs) between obese and nonobese individuals.

An online search was assembled with a combination of Medical Subject Headings terms and free‑text words of the literature published up to December 2020, to identify interventional studies limited to an adult human population. Titles, abstracts, and finally full texts were scrutinized for possible inclusion by two independent investigators. Reduction in periodontal pocket depth was the primary parameter used to assess the outcome of NSPT.

The primary search yielded 639 significant titles and abstracts. After filtering, data extraction, and quality assessment, 34 full‑text studies were selected. All studies matching inclusion criteria, suggest a positive association between obesity and periodontal disease.

Although a possible correlation exists between periodontitis and obesity, as with other oral‑systemic disease implications, some controversy exists. While some studies have reported a distinct correlation between periodontitis and obesity, other papers have suggested only moderate or no association between the two conditions at all. These results advise of a difference between response to NSPT amid obese and nonobese individuals. However, with few quality studies and variable reported findings, there is limited evidence of any significant difference in clinical practice. However, it can be a positive warning that obesity is a risk factor toward the outcome of periodontal disease treatment.