Smile Patrol

The chronic joint inflammation that characterizes RA may play a role in triggering gum disease, according to a study out of the University of Queensland, Australia. But breaking the cycle by reducing gum inflammation can actually ease the pain associated with this autoimmune disease. Take time to find out about the association between RA and periodontal problems – and what you can do to break the cycle.

Examining 65 rheumatoid arthritis patients for periodontal disease – including gingivitis (gum disease) and erosion of the bone that supports the teeth – researchers in Brisbane, Australia, found that study participants had deeper pocketing (gaps between gum and tooth that is a sign of periodontal disease) and had lost more teeth than a control group without the chronic autoimmune disease. In fact, some studies indicate that people with rheumatoid arthritis are eight times more likely to have gum disease than people without RA. And, unfortunately, once periodontal problems start, they may be more difficult for people with arthritis to take of: Flossing and brushing the teeth, for example, can be hard to do with painful hands and fingers.

The good news is that working with your dentist to treat the inflammation and infection that accompanies gum disease can reduce painful, swollen and stiff joints that are symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. “It was exciting to find that if we eliminated infection and inflammation in the gums, then patients with a severe kind of active rheumatoid arthritis reported improvement in the signs and symptoms of that disease,” says Nabil Bissada, D.D.S., head of Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine’s periodontics department, who worked with Ali Askari, M.D., chairman of the department of rheumatology at Cleveland’s University Hospital on another recent study. The investigators identified a microbe in inflamed gums that produces a toxin linked to joint inflammation. “It gives us a new intervention,” says Bissada enthusiastically.

Source: Healthcommunities