THE EFFECT ON ALVEOLAR BONE LOSS OF LONG-TERM PHENYTOIN USE IN THE TREATMENT OF EPILEPSY

Aim: phenytoin which is one of the older generation antiepileptic drugs frequently used to treat epilepsy, has some side effects such as gingival hyperplasia and bone metabolism alterations. the aim of this study was to evaluate the relation between alveolar bone loss and long term use of phenytoin in patients with epilepsy. material and methods: this study was perfomed on a total of 130 individuals using phenytoin (epileptic, n=65) and not using phenytoin (nonepileptic, control group, n=65). plaque index (pi), probing depth (pd), bleeding on probing (bop) and clinical attachment level (cal) was measured for assessment of periodontal evaluation. panoramic and periapical radiography were used to evaluate the amount of bone. results: the mean of pi, pd and bop found similar between the group using phenytoin and control group (p>0.05). additionally, the mean of cal, dmft scores and percentage of sites with cal>4mm and the percentage of bone loss were similar for both groups (p>0.05). while bone loss is associated with periodontal parameters, there was no relationship between using pht and bone loss. conclusion: results of this present study not to support that the use of phenytoin may be increase the destruction of alveolar bone.