The relationship between cardiovascular xerogenic medication intake and the incidence of crown/root restorations

Objectives: This retrospective, longitudinal cohort study quantified the strength of the association between xerogenic cardiovascular medication use and dental restorations, using the latter as a proxy measure for dental caries experience. Methods: Study data were collected from 11 years of electronic clinical/pharmacy records in two large dental group practices associated with managed care organizations (MCO). Records were extracted for all members who were at least 55 years old at the end of the 11 year window, and had at least 48 months of concurrent dental, medical, and pharmacy coverage. The authors identified 4,448 individuals whose only xerogenic medication exposure was to drugs treating a cardiovascular condition. This group was compared to a group not taking any medications (n-1,183), and a group taking medications with no known xerostomic side effect (n-5,622). Poisson regression compared restoration incidence and mean restoration rates among the three groups. Results: MCO members taking cardiovascular or non-xerogenic medications had higher restoration incidence and mean restoration rates than individuals taking no medications. A small difference in mean restoration rate between the non-xerogenic medication group and the cardiovascular drug group was observed; no significant difference in restoration incidence was seen between these two groups. Conclusions: This study provides objective quantification of cardiovascular medication's long-term effects on increased restorations in older adults. When grouped under a single category labeled "cardiovascular, " drugs with effects targeting the cardiovascular system did not appear to unequivocally lead to higher restorative experiences.