Dental scaling and lower risk of spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage

Background: —Spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) has high fatality while has few proven treatments. We aim at investigating the association between dental scaling (DS) and the risk of ICH. Methods: —In this cohort study, two cohorts were matched by propensity score based on potential confounders. Data from ICH between January 2008 and December 2014 in Taiwan were analyzed. The subjects underwent DS at least 6 times between January 1, 2002, and December 31, 2007, while the matched controls did not undergo any DS during the same period. Cumulative incidences and hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated after adjusting for competing confounders. Results: —Each cohort consisted of 681,126 subjects. Compared with the non-DS cohort, the regular-DS cohort had a significantly lower incidence of ICH (0.8% vs 1.2%; P < 0.0001), and the adjusted hazards ratio (aHR) of 7-year ICH was 0.61 (95% confidence interval, CI, 0.59–0.63; P < 0.0001). The 30–39-year age group of the regular-DS cohort had the lowest HR (0.57; 95% CI, 0.52–0.61; P < 0.0001) of 7-year ICH when compared with similar controls. Compared with the controls, the regular-DS cohort also had significantly lower HR (0.82; 95% CI, 0.81–0.82; P < 0.0001) of 7-year hypertension. Compared with those without DS, the lowest risk of intracerebral hemorrhage was observed in the male participants with regular DS (0.43; 95% CI, 0.40–0.47; P < 0.0001). Conclusions: —Regular DS was consistently associated with lower ICH risk in subjects aged 30–59 years, which may benefit from the decreased HBP risk. DS had a potential role in the prophylaxis for ICH, a condition with a high disability or mortality.