An analysis of the relationship between rheumatic valve disease and chronic periodontitis

Background and Aim: Chronic periodontitis is associated with a number of systemic disease. In this study we sought to determine the possible association between chronic periodontitis and rheumatic valve disease Methods: Seventy-seven patients with rheumatic valve disease and 30 healthy controls were enrolled. All subjects underwent detailed echocardiographic and periodontal examination. Periodontal parameters included gingival index, plaque index, probing pocket depth, bleeding on probing, clinical attachment loss and the number of missing tooth. Results: Mean age of patients and controls were 37.84±10.31 years and 35.26±9.74 years respectively. Mean clinical attachment loss (CAL) was 2.17±0.69 for patients and 1.78±0.46 for controls (p:0.005), mean pocket depth (PD) was 2.15±0.64 for patients and 1.78±0.46 for controls (p:0.006), mean bleeding on probing (BP) area was 53.32±39.40 for patients and 34.70±37.85 for controls (p:0.029). The strong negative correlation between the number of missing tooth and severity of mitral stenosis and mitral valve area (MVA) also worth mentioning (p<0.001for both). Conclusion: Our study findings strongly suggest an association between chronic periodontitis and rheumatic valve disease, especially mitral stenosis. Keywords: Periodontitis, valve disease, mitral stenosis