Figure 2. Cumulative Exposure to Atherosclerosis Risk Factors According to Number of Clinical Signs of Oral Infections.

The risk factors are systolic and diastolic blood pressure; body mass index; and concentrations of glucose, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and low-desnity lipoportein cholesterol for childhood in 1980, 1983, and 1986, and for adulthood in 2001 and 2007. The area-under-the-curve variables for risk factors were dichotomized 1×1 into high-risk (≥75th percentile) and low-risk (<75th percentile) factor levels and then summed. Mean (SE [error bars]) values and statistically significant linear terms are shown.