Abstract: Objective: To investigate the effects of nonsurgical periodontal therapy on endothelial function and arterial stiffness in patients with chronic periodontitis. Methods: A total of 43 patients with chronic periodontitis (observational group) and 86 healthy subjects (healthy group) admitted at the Oral Diagnosis and Treatment Center of our hospital were enrolled. The patients in the observational group received nonsurgical periodontal therapy. The clinical variables, including clinical periodontal indices, flow-mediated dilation (FMD, an indication of endothelial function) and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV, an indication of arterial stiffness), were measured for the observational and healthy groups before the treatment and again for the observational group after the treatment. Results: Compared with healthy group, observation group showed a significant lower FMD [(8.02 ± 3.13) % vs. (11.54 ± 2.69) %] and higher baPWV [(14.48 ± 1.97) m/s vs. (12.16 ± 1.32) m/s]. After 3-month treatment, the clinical periodontal indices were obviously improved (P<0.05) compared with baseline, with a significantly increased FMD [(9.47± 3.65) %, P<0.05] and decreased baPWV [(13.51 ± 1.62) m/s, P<0.05]. Pearson correlation analysis indicated that both the changes in FMD and baPWV before and after treatment were positively associated with the change in pocket probing depth. Conclusion: Nonsurgical periodontal therapy improves endothelial function and arterial stiffness in patients with chronic periodontitis, suggesting that it may benefit the prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Key words: Periodontitis, Nonsurgical therapy , Endothelial function, Arterial stiffness