Investigation of dental caries and periodontal conditions in maintenance hemodialysis patients

To compare the prevalence of dental caries and periodontal disease in patients with end-stage renal disease treated with maintenance hemodialysis with that in healthy controls and to investigate the relationship between end-stage renal disease, dental caries and periodontal disease.

A total of 82 maintenance hemodialysis patients who met the inclusion criteria were selected as the case group, and 86 healthy persons who underwent oral examination in the physical examination center were selected as the control group. Dental caries and periodontal conditions were examined in the two groups. The dental caries examination was conducted by determining the number of decayed-missing-filled teeth, which was recorded as recommended by the World Health Organization. The periodontal condition parameters included the plaque index, calculus index, bleeding on probing, periodontal pocket depth and clinical attachment loss.

The prevalence of dental caries in the case group and healthy control group was 87.8% and 81.4%, respectively, and there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). The periodontal indexes, including the plaque index, calculus index, probe bleeding index, periodontal pocket depth and clinical attachment level, in the case group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05), and the prevalence of periodontitis in the case group was significantly higher than that in the control group (97.6% vs 88.4%, P < 0.05).

The dental caries conditions were comparable between the case group and the control group, but the prevalence and severity of periodontitis were significantly higher in the case group than in the control group.