Comparison Of Chronic Periodontitis In HIV-Seropositive And Presumably HIV-Seronegative Subjects

Objectives: The aim of this study is to compare the degree of severity of chronic periodontitis in HIV-seropositive subjects with chronic periodontitis to control subjects with chronic periodontitis, in the Ga-Rankuwa area in South Africa. Methods: Two cohorts of subjects with chronic periodontitis were recruited for this study over a period of six months: thirty HIV-seropositive subjects; and 30 control subjects presumed to be HIV-seronegative and apparently in good health. Results: When all the periodontal indices were compared and evaluated there was no association between HIV-serostatus and the periodontal indices. When periodontal indices were compared between HIV-seropositive subjects using highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART), and HAART-naïve subjects, there was no statistical differences regarding gingival recession, plaque index and bleeding index. However, the mean pocket depth in HAART-naïve subjects was slightly greater than in HIV-seropositive subjects using HAART. Correlation coefficient of mean pocket depth in relation to log CD4+ T cell count in the HIV-seropositive HAART-naïve subjects showed a significant negative correlation (P =-0.947), but there was no correlation between the mean gingival recession values and the log CD4+ T cell counts in the same group (P =0.303). For the HIV-seropositive subjects using HAART the correlation coefficient test failed to show significant statistical relationships between log CD4+ T cell count and mean pocket depth (P=0.903) and mean gingival recession (P=0.312) in HIV-seropositive subjects using HAART. Conclusion: HIV-seropositive subjects with chronic periodontitis show clinical manifestations of similar degree of their periodontal disease to those of healthy control subjects with chronic periodontitis, with no differences in mean pocket depth, gingival recession, plaque index and bleeding index.