OBJECTIVES:   To utilize an integrated medical-drug-dental claims database to understand the relationship between periodontal disease, statin use, and cardiovascular disease (CAD) events. METHODS: Patients were selected from the 2005-2007 MarketScan® Dental Database who had periodontal disease, based on diagnosis or dental procedure codes, and 12 months of continuous enrollment prior to the periodontal disease diagnosis (index date). The Dental Database includes medical, pharmacy, and dental records for 6.5 million patients. Patients were divided into two cohorts – treated and not treated with statins – and followed for 12 months for evidence of CAD events. CAD patients were identified using ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes 414.00-414.07 and 414.8-9. RESULTS: There were 157,915 patients identified having periodontal disease and meeting the enrollment criteria; 155,802 (98.7%) did not have a CAD event in the 12 months prior to the index date.  Twenty-five percent (40,049) of patients with periodontal disease were on statins during this period. Post-periodontal diagnosis, the rate of CAD event was 0.42 percent (N=652) for statin-treated patients. The rate of CAD event post-periodontal diagnosis date was 1.16 percent (N=1808) for untreated patients. Controlling for differences in demographics and preexisting clinical conditions, patients not treated with statins prior to being diagnosed with periodontal disease are 2.77 times more likely to have a CAD event in the following 12 months than treated patients.     CONCLUSIONS:   Integrating dental claims with medical and drug claims provides an opportunity to follow a large cohort of patients and determine the relationships between oral and medical care and drug utilization. Statin treatment for an at-risk population with periodontal disease may mitigate the risk of a CAD event.  A longer follow-up period will further elucidate this relationship.