Evaluation of Periodontal Status in Alcoholic Liver Cirrhosis Patients: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Bacterial infections are common complicating findings in course of liver cirrhosis, most of them being Gram-negative. Similarly periodontal pathogens are also mostly Gram-negative bacteria hence the objective was to evaluate the periodontal status in alcoholic liver cirrhosis patients and to compare the periodontal status of alcoholic liver cirrhosis patients in: a. Smokers with periodontitis and b. Nonsmokers with periodontitis. A total of 150 patients made up the sample of this study. The sample size was divided into four groups. The first two groups comprised of 50 patients each comprising of patients with periodontitis who were nonsmokers and patients with periodontitis who were smokers respectively and the next two groups comprised of 25 patients each, which included patients diagnosed as suffering from alcoholic liver cirrhosis who are nonsmokers and patients diagnosed as suffering from alcoholic liver cirrhosis who are smokers. Screening examination included a proper medical history, dental history and Russell's periodontal index was done to evaluate and compare the periodontal status among the selected groups. The data obtained was subjected to statistical analysis using the ANOVA Fisher's F-test. Multiple group comparisons were made using the Tukey's HSD test. Conclusions that can be drawn from this study are: 1. Alcoholic liver cirrhosis patients demonstrated greater alveolar bone loss and increased periodontal destruction. 2. There is very high statistically significant difference on periodontal destruction in alcoholic liver cirrhosis patients (with or without smokers) when compared to the control group. Periodontal diseases are bacterial infections associated with a bacterial load or insult to the host that elicits a strong inflammatory response cumulating to produce significant pathologic alterations in the systemic status of the host. Alcoholic liver cirrhosis patients as a consequence of liver dysfunction have elevated levels of serum cytokines. These are involved in the destructive process of periodontal disease probably through enhancement of collagenase and metalloproteinase activity. Hence, a study has been planned to evaluate periodontal status in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis.