Apical periodontitis and autoimmune diseases-should we be screening patients prior to therapy?

DESIGN

A single-centre retrospective case-control study from 2012-2020 comparing the prevalence of apical periodontitis (AP) in patients with autoimmune disorders (AD) against a control group of those without. The different medication groups commonly used for treatment of AD were included for comparison.

CASE/CONTROL SELECTION: This study utilised patients' electronic records. These were anonymous. Patient sociodemographic variables were collected and compared. Two cases were removed from selection as they were being treated with dual biologic therapy.

DATA ANALYSIS: Both the control group and AP group contained 89 patients. Various additional variables were considered, such as DMFT and a logistical regression analysis was used to correlate between AD and AP.

RESULTS

For the autoimmune disease conditions within this study, the authors found a higher prevalence of apical periodontitis than in the control group, 89.9% versus 74.2%, respectively (p = 0.015). Furthermore, those taking conventional disease-modifying drugs such as methotrexate had a lower prevalence than those on biologics. These results were of statistical significance.

CONCLUSIONS

Individuals with autoimmune disorders may have increased prevalence of apical periodontitis irrespective of their treatment with biologics or not. A DMFT score can be used to predict the occurrence of AP.