Periodontal disease defects and mandibular cortical index in lupus patients

Abstract

Objective:Systemic lupus erythematosus is an autoimmune disease that affects multiple organs. It is well known that lupus patients have higher risk of osteoporosis, but if the disease affects mandibular cortical bone and alveolar bone is not fully established. 

The objective of this study was to evaluate periodontal disease defects and mandibular osteoporotic alterations in patients with lupus as compared to healthy patients using panoramic radiographs.

Material and Methods:The panoramic radiographs of 72 patients with lupus and 360 healthy patients were evaluated for the presence of bone loss secondary to periodontal disease, classified as horizontal and vertical bone loss. We also assessed mandibular osteoporotic alterations by using the mandibular cortical index. Logistic regression analysis was applied to estimate the risk of mandibular osteoporotic alterations as well as horizontal and vertical bone loss in patients with lupus as compared to healthy patients.

Results:There were no statistically significant differences between groups in the presence of horizontal bone defects and mandibular cortical indexes. However, patients with lupus demonstrated that patients with lupus were 2.17 more likely to present vertical bone loss than healthy patients.

Conclusions:Patients with lupus might have higher risk of vertical bone loss than healthy patients due to pathophysiology of their disease. Further larger prospective studies should be performed to confirm our findings.