Oral Mucosal and Dental Affection in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A clinical Survey

Abstrakt

Background: SLE is a chronic autoimmune disease predominantly affecting young females. Systemic involvement along with variable clinical presentations characterizes SLE. Various oral and dental manifestations have been described in SLE that include oral ulcerations, candida infection, and periodontal disease. We aimed to detect oral mucosal and dental disease in SLE patients and its relation to demographic features, general disease activity, and the extra-articular manifestation. Patients and Methods: 80 patients with SLE were included in this cross-sectional study. Patients were allocated into 2 groups, 40 patients in each group, according to SLE disease control with immunosuppressive medications: group A included patients who had controlled SLE and receiving immunosuppressive medications, and Group B included newly diagnosed SLE patients with uncontrolled disease activity and not receiving immunosuppressive medications. SLE disease activity was measured by SELDAI. The oral and dental examination included: the height of the gingival recession, clinical attachment level, probing pocket depth measurement, gingival Index, mobility Index, the Plaque Index System, the DMF index, bleeding on probing, oral ulcer, candida infection, angular cheilitis. Result: Comparing group B to group A, dental parameters and oral ulcers were statistically significantly higher in group B except for candida infection and angular cheilitis which were higher in group A. All oral and dental parameters correlated positively with age and SELDAI. Conclusion: Our study revealed higher dental and oral ulcers in patients not receiving immunosuppressive, except candida infection and angular cheilitis were lower. Dental and oral manifestations correlated positively with age, SELDAI, and various extra-articular manifestations.