[Caries incidence in rheumatic patients]

The research concerned 97 patients of both sexes, aged from 17 to 89 years, with the history of rheumatic disease, who were treated over the period from 1 year to 24 years by steroid or nonsteroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIL) or analgesics only. The aim of the study was to evaluate the frequency of caries in rheumatic patients treated by corticoids using Klein-Palmer parameters (DMF) and to compare them to the group that was administered NSAIL or analgesics. Student's test of proportions was used in the explanation of the obtained results. A statistically significant higher proportion of carious and extracted teeth was found. The same was found in relation to the number of parameters in patients treated by corticoids in comparison to those treated with NSAIL and analgesics. The majority of female patients was registered in all three groups. The values were slightly higher in patients treated by corticoids than in those who received analgesics only.