Are Dental Diseases More Frequent in Hepatitis, Epilepsy and Tuberculosis?

Objectives: It is widely known that diseases tend to correlate, and that having one disease often places you at higher risk of developing others. There is a suggestion that poor oral health leads to poor overall health. The purpose of this study was to determine if endodontic treatment needs, periodontitis, or previous caries experience are more likely to be found in individuals with hepatitis, epilepsy, or tuberculosis.
Methods: We used the University of Pittsburgh’s Dental Registry and DNA Repository, and 492 individuals were identified to have one or more of three selected general conditions; tuberculosis, hepatitis, and epilepsy. An unaffected group was then established of patients with the most similar possible sex, age, and ethnic background as those in the affected group. The frequency of periodontitis, endodontic treatment, and caries experience was determined in the affected and unaffected groups. Chi-square was used to determine if there were any statistically significant differences with an alpha of 0.05.
Results: Frequency of endodontic treatment, periodontitis, and caries experience were similar in all groups.
Conclusions: The results suggest endodontic treatment, periodontitis, and caries experience are not more frequent in individuals with epilepsy, hepatitis, or tuberculosis.