Dental, visual, auditory and olfactory complications in Paget's disease of bone.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the prevalence of dental problems in Paget's patients and in a control population without Paget's disease. The relationship of localization of bony involvement of Paget's disease with the prevalence of dental, auditory, visual, and smell changes is examined.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional national survey.

PARTICIPANTS

Four hundred ninety-eight subjects with Paget's disease were generated randomly from the mailing list of the Paget Foundation.

INTERVENTION: Each subject was sent a cover letter, two questionnaires, and a stamped, addressed return envelope. One questionnaire contained questions specific for the individual with Paget's disease. Subjects were asked to give the other questionnaire, which contained the same questions except for those asking about the specifics of Paget's disease, to an unaffected spouse or a similar aged friend.

MEASUREMENTS: All subjects were asked about their age, gender, race, educational level, income, living situation, chronic medical conditions, self-rating of their general physical and dental health, the number of teeth present, and the presence of dental, auditory, visual, and olfactory problems. Paget's subjects were also asked to indicate which bones were affected.

RESULTS

Paget's disease subjects assessed their oral health to be poorer than the controls. Paget's subjects were more likely to report pain when opening the mouth and were more likely to have had dental extractions. A significantly higher percentage of Paget's individuals with facial or maxillomandibular involvement reported having heart trouble. Paget's individuals with skull, facial or maxillo-mandibular involvement were more likely to report a change in their hearing, sight, and smell than Paget's subjects without involvement of the craniofacial complex. Dental problems were reported by 93% of those Paget's subjects with maxillomandibular involvement, compared with only 10% for those with skull involvement only or involvement at sites distant to the craniofacial complex.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with Paget's disease of bone involving facial or maxillo-mandibular parts of the skeleton have a higher prevalence of change in hearing, sight, smell, and dental problems. We also have found an association of heart disease in patients who have involvement of facial or maxillo-mandibular bones.