Dental outcomes after gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy: a register-based study

Bariatric surgery has been shown to cause a negative impact on oral health, as reflected by postsurgical increase of caries-related dental interventions.

The aim of this study was to compare dental intervention rates after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and sleeve gastrectomy (SG).

Nationwide and register-based (Sweden).

This 2-staged matched cohort study included all adults who underwent RYGB (n = 26,594) or SG (n = 3416) between 2011 and 2015, registered in the Scandinavian Obesity Surgery Register. Propensity score matching was used to match SG patients to RYGB patients, based on several covariates. The follow-up time was 3 years after surgery. The dental variables were collected from the Dental Health Register, including tooth extractions, restorative interventions (dental fillings), and endodontic interventions (root canal treatment).

In total, 3317 RYGB and 3317 SG patients were included. Both groups showed increased dental event rates postoperatively. RYGB patients had significantly higher event rates compared with SG postoperatively regarding all interventions, restorative and endodontic interventions.

The negative effect on dental outcomes in terms of dental fillings and tooth extractions were higher after RYGB than after SG. The reasons are not clear. More research is needed to replicate these findings, to understand the mechanisms, and further delineate the significance of the surgical method.