Periodontal Status of Adults With Systemic Sclerosis: Case-Control Study

Background: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a systemic autoimmune disease that affects connective tissue in the skin, blood vessels and major organs of the body. This project aimed to compare the periodontal status of dentate Hong Kong Chinese with and without SSc. Methods: Thirty-six non-smoking adults with SSc (35 women; 50.6 ? 11.7 years, free from Sjogren's syndrome) attending a teaching hospital were age- and sex-matched to systemically healthy controls attending a dental hospital. Both groups had similar demographic characteristics but a lower proportion of SSc patients were working or studying (p < 0.05). Twenty-three (32.0%) of all participants were regular dental attendees. Orthopantomogram rediograph were taken. Participants were surveyed and periodontally examined. Results: Both groups had a similar number of erupted teeth, proportion of sites with detectable plaque, and mean full-mouth probing attachment level, whereas controls had less bleeding on probing (BOP(%), 49.3 ? 22.6 vs. 78.4 ? 19.6; p < 0.001) and a shallower mean full-mouth probing pocket depth (PPD(mm), 1.92 ? 0.44 vs. 2.52 ? 0.58; p < 0.001). Radiographically, SSc patients had wider periodontal ligament spaces. (PDL (mm), 0.36 ? 0.06 vs. 0.33 ? 0.03, p < 0.01) Conclusion: Hong Kong Chinese SSc adults seem to exhibit higher levels of periodontal inflammation and wider radiographic PDL spaces than age- and sex- matched controls. Future studies are warranted to further investigate any associations between these periodontal features and SSc.