Effort-reward Imbalance at Work and Oral Diseases: a Cross-sectional Study in Japan

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Psychological stress is a potential risk factor for oral diseases. However, evidence for association between work stress and oral diseases is lacking. We aimed to examine the associations of work stress, according to the effort-reward imbalance model, with dental caries, periodontal disease, and tooth loss. This cross-sectional study included 619 regular employees. Work stress was assessed using the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) ratio. Dental caries and tooth loss were assessed according to the number of decayed and filled teeth (DFT) and missing teeth (MT) among set of 28 teeth. Severe periodontitis was assessed using a questionnaire. The mean ERI ratio (with standard deviations) was 1.12 (0.47). In the pooled analysis, a one-unit increase in the ERI ratio was associated with -0.90 (95% CI = -1.67, -0.12) changes in the mean DFT and -0.20 (95% CI =-0.45, 0.06) changes in the mean MT from adjusted linear regression models. A one-unit increase in the ERI ratio was also associated with 1.66 (95% CI = 1.10, 2.52) of the risk for severe periodontitis based on Poisson regression models. ERI at work was associated with a low number of dental caries and tooth loss, and an increased risk of severe periodontitis.</jats:p>