The Relationship between Rheumatoid Arthritis and Periodontitis

Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease of tooth supportive tissues and is characterized by destruction in periodontal ligaments and alveolar bone besides pocket formation and gingival recession. Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common chroinic inflammatory disease of the joints. The aim of this study was to survey the relationship between periodontitis and rheumatoid arthritis. In this cross-sectional-analytical study, 50 rheumatoid arthritis patients forming the case group and 50 healthy individuals as the control group were included. Mean of plaque index, percentage of bleeding sites, mean of probing depth, percentage of sites with probing depth more than 3mm, percentage of sites with attachment loss, and percentage of sites with gingival recession and the number of missing teeth were recorded in both groups. Mean values of each variable were compared between the two groups using t- test. The collected data were statistically analyzed via SPSS on a computer. (α=0/05). Analyzing the data showed that there were no statistically significant differences in the mean of plaque index, percentage of bleeding sites, mean of probing depth, percentage of sites with probing depth more than 3mm, percentage of sites with attachment loss, and percentage of sites with gingival recession, between the case and the control group. The mean of attachment loss (P-value =0.04), mean of gingival recession (P-value =0.02), and the average number of missing teeth (P-value =0.0001)were significantly higher in the rheumatoid arthritis (the case) group compared to the control group. periodontal disease (based on the average clinical attachment loss) was seen with a higher severity among patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Therefore, regular dental examination besides close attention to dental health in patients with rheumatoid arthritis is highly recommended.