Background: Individuals with systemic illness often develop multiple coexisting problems arising from the consumption of medications. In chronic systemic conditions, such as cardiac diseases, respiratory disorders, hypertension and psychiatric illnesses, medications may cause xerostomia which could increase the risk of caries and periodontal diseases. Disabilities due to systemic illness could also affect the ability of the individual to carry out oral hygiene practices and might adversely affect the oral microbial flora. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the association between systemic illness and oral status among Saudi dental patients.
Methodology: A retrospective analysis was conducted in the Dental Clinics at Qassim University, Saudi Arabia. All patients aged between 15 and 90 years seeking dental treatment were included. The clinical charts and records of 1,147 patients were collected and analyzed. The oral health status was assessed through the most commonly used indicators, including decayed/missing/filled (DMF) and modified decayed/missing/filled teeth (DMFT) indices, Sillness and Lowe indices for plaque formation and bleeding index were also assessed.
Results: The results showed that oral health variables, such as plaque index and bleeding index, were significantly higher with baseline parameters, such as biographic, adverse habits, and systemic health variables. It also showed that the subjects with heart diseases, respiratory diseases, and diabetes had significantly increased DMFT scores.
Conclusion: A definite association between systemic illness and oral health status of individuals existed, especially when age was taken into consideration.
Key words: Systemic diseases, oral health status, DMF index, plaque index, bleeding index
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