Oral manifestations of Behçet's disease

Behçet's disease is a chronic vasulitis. The aphtous stomatitis is present in nearly the totality of patients having this disease.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the oral health of Behcet's disease (BD) patients and then compare it with healthy controls.

Twenty patients with BD and 20 healthy subjects were included in this cross-sectional study conducted at the military hospital of Bizerta from 01/10/2017 to 31/05/2019. The level of plaque were recorded using the plaque index (PI). The gingival index (GI) was used to evaluate the gingival inflammation. The depths of the sulci/pockets were probed with a periodontal probe. The clinical attachment loss (CAL) was measured from the cementoenamel junction to the sulcus base. The caries status was scored by using DMFT introduced by Klein and Palmer.The diagnosis of oral lesions was performed using the visual tactile examination.

The two groups were age, sexe, and socioeconomic level matched. The percentage of oral ulcers was observed to be higher in BD patients compared with healthy controls (40% Vs 5%, p0.01). Statistical significant differences in the two groups' PI (1,19±0,38 Vs 0,86±0,37 ; p=0,011) and GI (1,10±0,30 Vs 0,75±0,36 ; p=0,03) were observed. The probing depth, the CAL and the DMF/T showed no associations with the BD.

Our results showed that gingival health is worse in BD patients. Therfore, the dentist must play an important part in the management of BD and the motivation for the oral hygiene.