Relationship between hypothyroidism and periodontitis: A scoping review

Area of Science:

• Endocrinology
• Periodontology
• Systematic Review

Background:

• Hypothyroidism, a condition of insufficient thyroid hormone production, is a growing public health concern.
• Periodontitis, a severe gum infection, affects a significant portion of the adult population worldwide.
• The potential link between endocrine disorders and inflammatory conditions like periodontitis warrants investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review the existing literature and evaluate the evidence for an association between hypothyroidism and periodontitis.
• To synthesize findings from relevant studies to understand the current state of knowledge on the thyroid-periodontitis relationship.

Main Methods:

• A modified Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) approach was employed.
• Five electronic databases and gray literature were searched for relevant publications.
• Keywords related to hypothyroidism and periodontitis were used to identify studies assessing the thyroid-periodontitis link.

Main Results:

• An initial search yielded 847 unique publications, with 29 selected after applying inclusion/exclusion criteria.
• The majority of included studies were cross-sectional or retrospective chart reviews.
• Four publications, including one abstract, were ultimately analyzed for the thyroid-periodontitis association.

Conclusions:

• High-quality studies investigating the hypothyroidism-periodontitis association are scarce.
• A positive relationship between hypothyroidism and periodontitis was observed in the analyzed literature, particularly in studies with fewer confounding factors.
• Further well-designed, prospective clinical and immunological studies are necessary to confirm this association.