**3. Results**

#### *3.1. Subject Characteristics*

Table 1 provides an overview of the participants. This study included 894 participants (mean age: 74.3 ± 0.2 years old), most of whom were female (68.5%). The results also indicated that 45.3% of the participants had history of hypertension, with females accounting for 64.4% of the History of hypertension group. Overall, the aggregate prevalence of hypertension in the Hypertensive and the History of hypertension groups was 69.1%, which was relatively high. Among the three groups, statistically significant differences were found in sex, smoking habits, SBP and DBP, pulse pressure, cardiovascular disease, and stroke. In contrast, we only found significant differences between the Normotensive and the History of hypertension groups in terms of age. The Normotensive group was statistically different from the Hypertensive and the History of hypertension groups in terms of BMI, body fat mass, and percent body fat, while a significant difference between the Hypertensive and the History of hypertension groups was observed for the skeletal muscle mass. No significant differences were found in education, living arrangement, exercise habits, alcohol consumption, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, and chronic kidney disease.



Data are presented as mean ± standard error or number of participants (%). The significance level was set at *p* < 0.05. \*: Significant differences were seen using the Kruskal-Wallis Test, \*\*: Significant differences were seen using the X2-test. BMI: body mass index; Normotensive: Participants with systolic blood pressure (SBP) < 140 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) < 90 mmHg; Hypertensive: Participants with SBP of ≥140 mmHg and/or DBP ≥ 90 mmHg; History of hypertension: Participants who answered that they had a history of hypertension in the medical interview and/or is taking hypertension medication; Exercise habits: participants who regularly exercise; exercise frequency: the frequency of exercise every month; exercise periods: the number of years the participants have been exercising. Current or past smoking habits: Participants who smoked or had a smoking history. The Mann-Whitney U-test with Bonferroni correction was used to compare the two groups: a: statistically significant difference between the Normotensive and the Hypertensive groups; b: statistically significant difference between the Normotensive and History of hypertension groups; c: statistically significant difference between the Hypertensive and History of hypertension groups.

#### *3.2. The Relationship between Oral Health and Hypertension*

Table 2 shows the analysis of oral health parameters and their association with hypertension. The mean average of the remaining teeth among participants in the History of hypertension group was significantly lower than that of the Normotensive group, while the Normotensive group had significantly higher masticatory performance than that of the Hypertensive or the History of hypertension groups. It was found that there was a significant difference in posterior occlusal contact between the Normotensive and the History of hypertension groups. Among all the participants, 17.9% had no posterior occlusal contact, with the History of hypertension group having the highest prevalence of having no posterior occlusal contact. Other parameters such as occlusal force, oral moisture, bacterial count, and levels were not associated with BP condition. Although there was no significant difference in oral moisture, it can be noted that the History of hypertension group had the lowest oral moisture count among all the groups.

**Table 2.** The Relationship Between Oral Health and Hypertension.


Data are presented as mean ± standard error or number of participants (%). The significance level was set at *p* < 0.05. \* Significant differences were seen using the Kruskal-Wallis test; \*\*: Significant differences were seen using the X2-test. kgf: kilogram-force, CFU: colony-forming unit, min: minimum, max: maximum. Posterior occlusal contact was classified into three groups according to the availability of posterior teeth based on the Eichner index. With posterior occlusion (with/PO) group consisting of Eichner A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, and B3; Without Posterior occlusion (w/o PO) group consisting of Eichner B4, C1, and C2; the edentulous group consisting of Eichner C3 [19]. The Mann-Whitney U-test with Bonferroni correction was used to compare the two groups: a: statistically significant difference between the Normotensive and the Hypertensive groups; b: statistically significant difference between the Normotensive and History of hypertension groups; c: statistically significant difference between the Hypertensive and History of hypertension groups.
