[Evaluation of dental insertion loss in patients with chronic kidney disease]

Chronic kidney failure (CKF) is a clinical syndrome due to the slow, progressive and irreversible loss of the glomerular filtration rate. CKF may be associated with several oral manifestations, such as xerostomia, uremic stomatitis and periodontitis, diagnosed as clinical attachment loss (CAL). 92 patients, from the Prontorim Hemodialysis Clinic of Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil, were investigated. Only 34 patients (37%) were eligible for periodontal investigation, which consisted of CAL measurement (values grater than 2 mm diagnosing periodontitis). CAL measurements ranged from 1.31 to 5.27 mm (2.30 ± 0.96 mm). 18 (52.9%) patients had smaller than 2 mm CAL, while 16 (47.1%) had periodontitis. Tooth loss and considerable CAL were observed in this study. Nevertheless, factors such as social status should be considered in further investigations.