Abstract:

Objective　To study a population of rheumatoid arthritis patients and determine the extent of periodontal disease in these patients, in orderto investigate the relationship between periodontal disease and rheumatoid arthritis.Methods　The experi- mental group was composed of 70 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and the control group consisted of 70 age- and gender-matched individualswithout rheumatoid arthritis. The relationship between periodontal status in rheumatoid arthritis and control groups as well as the relationship between periodontal status and rheumatological findings in patients were analyzed.Results　The percent- age of periodontal disease was statistically significant between experimental and control group (P<0·01). The difference of aver- age number of missing teeth and bleeding on probing in the experimental group and control group were not statistically significant (P>0·05). There were more number of periodontal disease index 5 or 6 in experimental group than in control group (P< 0·05). Rheumatoid arthritis patients with moderate to severe bone loss had deeper degree of morning stiffness, erythrocyte sedi- mentation rate levels and serum C-reactive protein levels than patients with no or mild bone loss.Conclusion　Individuals with rheumatoid arthritis are more likelyto experience periodontal disease compares to healthy subjects. They are also very likelyto suf- fer from moderate to severe periodontitis.

Key words: periodontal disease, rheumatoid arthritis, bone loss