Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the risk of cholecystitis following periodontitis and dental scaling. Methods: We conducted a nationwide population-based retrospective cohort study using the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2000 (LHID 2000, from 2000 to 2013), a subset of the National Health Insurance Research Datasets (NHIRD). In total, 25,315 patients with cholecystitis were included in the study group and 101,260 age- and sex-matched individuals were included in the control group. For both groups, severity of periodontitis and incidence of dental scaling 3 years or less before the index date were determined. Subgroup analyses were conducted using different parameters. Results: We observed a significantly increased risk of cholecystitis with exposure to severe periodontitis (aOR=1.217, 95% CI 1.022-1.448). Significant interactions were noted for age and periodontitis severity with cholecystitis (interaction P=0.0322). Individuals aged 50 to 70 years with severe periodontitis had a 43.6% increased risk of developing cholecystitis (aOR=1.436; 95% CI 1.098-1.877) compared with individuals without periodontitis. Moreover, there was an association between 1-5 dental scaling events 3 years or less before the index date and risk of cholecystitis. Conclusion: Our findings indicated that an increased risk of cholecystitis is associated with severe periodontitis and dental scaling events within 3 years of its occurrence.
