Systemic lupus erythematosus patients at high risk of periodontitis, Study reports

The study is published in the Journal of Periodontology.

According to literature reports, the prevalence of periodontitis in SLE patients varies between 60% and 94%. Other studies have also reported the increased prevalence of PD in the SLE patients compared to the healthy controls.

Anne Isine Bolstad and colleagues from the Department of Clinical Dentistry, The Faculty of Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway carried out the present study with the aim to examine the association between systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and periodontitis in Norway during a 10-year period.

In this population-based study, the authors included a total of 1990 patients in the SLE-cohort based on diagnostic codes registered in the Norwegian Patient Registry. The control group (n = 170,332) comprised patients registered with diagnostic codes for non-osteoporotic fractures or hip- or knee replacement due to osteoarthritis.

The outcome was periodontitis, defined by procedure codes registered in the Control and Payment of Health Refunds database. Logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate odds ratio for periodontitis in patients versus controls adjusted for potential covariates.

The following results were observed-

1. Periodontitis was significantly more common in SLE patients compared to controls (OR 1.78, 95% CI 1.47-2.14) and the difference was highest in SLE-patients 20-30 years of age (OR 3.24, 95% CI 1.23 – 8.52).
2. The periodontitis rate in SLE patients was in the same range as for patients with diabetes mellitus type 2.

Hence, the authors concluded that "Patients with SLE had an almost doubled risk of periodontitis compared with the control population, and the difference was most accentuated in the young patients. These findings warrant an increased focus on dental health in SLE-patients."