Mental Stress and Its Association with Periodontal Health

Mental stress is known to influence the status of the immune system and has long been suspected of being a causal factor of periodontal diseases. In this article, we discuss the stress-induced changes in catecholamine, cortisol, and crevicular IL-1β, whether these changes might influence the state of periodontal health, and whether the resulting alterations might affect the oral microbiota. Catecholamine may inhibit IL-12 and indirectly enhance Th2 activity. The catecholamine-induced changes may also up-regulate bacterial pathogenicity via an effort to shift the ecosystem of subgingival species. Cortisol may suppress lymphocyte formation and inhibit natural killer (NK) cell-mediated cytotoxicity, thus eliciting a provocative infection of periodontal tissues. Stress stimulation may induce a synchronizing effect with bacterial plaque in increasing IL-1 activity in periodontal tissue and cause bone and connective tissue destruction. Various experimental designs and theoretical backgrounds may give rise to different results; however, when an objective research methodology is utilized, one can conclude that mental stress may be a confounding risk factor for periodontal disease.

並列關鍵字

stress ； periodontal health ； catecholamine ； cortisol ； IL-1β

國際替代計量

全文下載

主題瀏覽