A possible link between ankylosing spondylitis and periodontitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to examine the link between AS and periodontitis.

METHODS

Medline, Embase, AMED, CINAHL, Web of Science and Google Scholar were searched to identify eligible studies that were selected and reviewed independently by at least two authors.

RESULTS

Six case-control studies were included in the review. Study size ranged from 90 to 40 926 participants. The prevalence of periodontitis ranged from 38% to 88% in AS patients and from 26% to 71% in controls. As there was low-level heterogeneity (I(2) = 13%), using fixed effects analysis the overall pooled estimate of the odds ratios for periodontitis was 1.85 (95% CI 1.72, 1.98). There was no evidence of publication bias.

CONCLUSION

The results led to the need for a further large study with sufficient statistical power to detect the desired effect size, taking into account potential confounding factors and using validated measures of AS and periodontitis.