20 January 2023

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Study links periodontitis and inflammatory bowel disease

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Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of inflammatory disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, primarily Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Its cause remains unknown, but an inappropriate immune response is considered to be involved.

Periodontitis and IBD are chronic inflammatory diseases with equally complex pathogenesises. "Both diseases can be described as a strong overreaction of the immune system against a theoretically relatively mild bacterial trigger. You can say that the immune system attacks the body itself," explained co-author Professor Andreas Stavropoulos from the faculty of dentistry in a university news release.

The study was conducted in Denmark among around 1,100 IBD patients and around 3,400 without the disease. Results were published in July 2022 in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology. 

Evaluation of survey responses showed that IBD patients were more likely to perceive the overall health of their teeth and gums as worse and to have severe periodontitis. Those patients diagnosed with Crohn's disease reported worse oral health than those diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and were more likely to have lost more teeth than the control group.

"The study shows that IBD patients have more periodontitis and fewer teeth compared to people without IBD. We also see that IBD and periodontitis patients have aggravated bowel disease with increased activity than IBD patients who do not have oral health problems," said Stavropoulos.

Based on the results of the study, the research team concluded that IBD patients should be kept under close monitoring to prevent the development of periodontitis and/or slow its progression. "Equally important, it may be that the treatment of periodontitis has a positive impact on the management of IBD," said Stavropoulos.

This article was originally published in Odontologia33.