Oral Health Status of Patients Before and After Bariatric Surgery: Preliminary Results

Objectives: Morbid obesity is a scourge of the 21st century. The effective therapeutic measure is bariatric surgery. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of bariatric surgery on oral health via caries prevalence, periodontal status and the impact of oral conditions on quality of life.
Methods: This prospective longitudinal cohort study included 80 patients scheduled for bariatric surgery. All participants were examined at tree time points; before, 6 and 12 months after surgery. The oral examinations included caries experience by DMFT index and periodontal examination including Plaque Index (PI), Probing Pocket Depth (PPD), Bleeding On Probing (BOP) and presence of calculus (using the 6 Ramfjord Index Teeth). Self reported quality of life was assessed by OHIP-14 questionnaires.
Results: 30 patients were thus far completed and are reported in this paper. Mean age was 38.5 (SD 12.1), two third were women and only 13.3% were smokers. A significant reduction in mean BMI was found after surgery (from 42.3 SD 5.1 to 29.3 SD 5.7, P<0.001). Changes in oral health parameters were found to be non-significant. Mean DMFT slightly increased from 12.1 (SD 6.1) to 13.5 (SD 5.9) (P=0.38). Mean PI was 1.6 (SD 0.9) at baseline and 1.5 (SD 0.8) post-op (P=0.63). Mean PPD decreased slightly from 2.4 (SD 0.6) to 2.2 (SD 0.5) (P=0.37). Percentage surfaces with BOP 35.7% to 32.8% (P=0.68) and percentage of teeth with calculus from 36.1% to 37% (P=0.91). OHIP-14 mean score changes from 1.60 (SD 0.5) to 1.56 (SD 0.5) also did not reach statistical significance (P=0.79).
Conclusions: In this short term evaluation, bariatric surgery did not influence dental and periodontal health nor the perception of quality of life influenced by oral conditions.