Annals and Essences of Dentistry
Open Access

Abstract

CLINICAL ASSESSMENT OF PERIODONTAL STATUS IN PATIENTS ON LONG TERM CORTICOSTEROID THERAPY

Sharmila Kandregula, Prabhakara Rao KV, Haritha Pamerla, Priyanka Majj

Corticosteroids (Cs) are used widely for their anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive properties. However their long-term administration may lead to impaired periodontal health. The aim of the present study was to clinically assess the periodontal status in patients on long-term corticosteroid therapy. Periodontal health of 100 patients under long-term corticosteroid therapy for a minimum of 6 months duration was compared with sex- and age-matched 100 healthy controls. The periodontal examination included measuring oral hygiene index-simplified (OHI-S), gingival index (GI), sulcus bleeding index (SBI), probing pocket depth (PPD) and clinical attachment loss (CAL). The results showed that mean values of OHI-S, GI and SBI did not differ significantly (p>0.05) between cases and controls. Mean PPD and CAL was significantly higher in cases when compared to the controls (p = 0.0003). Within the limitations of the study, it can be concluded that there is a positive correlation between periodontal status and long term steroid therapy.