Assessment of periodontal status in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Kelantan,Malaysia: A preliminary study

The aim of this study was to assess the association between periodontal status and rheumatoid arthritis in patients of hospital universiti sains malaysia,in the state of kelantan,malaysia. a comparative cross sectional study was conducted on equally 16 rheumatoid arthritis and non-rheumatoid arthritis patients with mean age of 40.8 (sd i6.0) years old. data on gender,ethnicity,and history of rheumatoid arthritis (ra) were gathered. periodontal parameters; plaque score,gingivitis score,probing pocket depth,clinical attachment loss and tooth loss were recorded. data obtained were analysed with spss version 22.0 using non-parametric test with p < 0.05 taken as significant level. it was found that all subjects were presented with chronic periodontitis (97%). there was significantly higher number of tooth loss in ra patients compared to non-ra (p=0.011). tooth loss was significantly correlated with age of the subjects (r=0.630; p=0.0001) and duration of ra (r=0.457; p=0.009). no significant different found for periodontal parameters in between two groups. this limited data demonstrated that rheumatoid arthritis may indirectly influence tooth loss. further observation is warranted for more conclusive interpretation.