Natarajan, PriyadarshiniMadanian, SamanehMarshall, Sarah2025-04-012025-04-012025-03-26Scientific Reports, ISSN: 2045-2322 (Print); 2045-2322 (Online), Nature Portfolio, 15(1), 10476-. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-92523-62045-23222045-2322http://hdl.handle.net/10292/18971This study investigates the association between oral health issues, specifically periodontitis and dental caries, and systemic health conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. The goal is to determine the strength of these associations using statistical analysis. We conducted a cross-sectional study utilizing the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data from 2017-2020, focusing on 13,772 adults with complete data on oral and systemic health variables. Oral health indicators were periodontitis and dental caries, while systemic health variables included diabetes and hypertension. The statistical analysis involved Cramer's V to assess the strength of associations between these health conditions. The study found statistically significant associations between oral and systemic health conditions. There was a moderate association between periodontitis and diabetes (Cramer's V = 0.14) and a moderate association between dental caries and hypertension (Cramer's V = 0.12). The results underscore the interconnected nature of oral and systemic health, suggesting that poor oral health can be an indicator of broader health issues. These associations could guide integrated health care strategies, emphasizing the need for dental health evaluations in patients with diabetes and hypertension.© The Author(s) 2025. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Decayed teethDental cariesDental informaticsDiabetesDigital healthHealth informaticsHypertensionMachine learningOral healthPeriodontal diseaseDecayed teethDental cariesDental informaticsDiabetesDigital healthHealth informaticsHypertensionMachine learningOral healthPeriodontal disease32 Biomedical and Clinical Sciences3203 DentistryMinority HealthInfectious DiseasesDiabetesDental/Oral and Craniofacial DiseaseHealth DisparitiesOral and gastrointestinalMetabolic and endocrineAdultAgedCross-Sectional StudiesDental CariesDiabetes MellitusFemaleHumansHypertensionMaleMiddle AgedNutrition SurveysOral HealthPeriodontitisHumansCross-Sectional StudiesOral HealthDental CariesMaleHypertensionFemaleMiddle AgedAdultDiabetes MellitusPeriodontitisNutrition SurveysAgedHumansCross-Sectional StudiesOral HealthDental CariesMaleHypertensionFemaleMiddle AgedAdultDiabetes MellitusPeriodontitisNutrition SurveysAgedJournal ArticleOpenAccess10.1038/s41598-025-92523-6