Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis linked to dental disorders

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An interesting article titled “Increased dental visits in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a secondary cohort analysis of population based claims data,” appears in BMC Oral Health written by Ching-Ya Juan, Chia-Wen Hsu, and Ming-Chi Lu (published December 15, 2022). The article sought to eplore the use of dental care in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and explore the incidence of dental disorders in patients with and without RA. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that characterized by persistent joint infammation. RA can affect not only the joints, but it can also involve other organ systems, such as the lung and lead to systemic comorbidities. In the article the authors selected 1,337 patients newly diagnosed with RA between January 2000 and December 2012 and 13,370 patients without RA. The authors found that patients with RA had a higher prevalence (70.3% vs. … Read more

Gum Disease Bacteria may Facilitate Rheumatoid Arthritis

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As stated over on the risks of keeping wisdom teeth page, gum disease (periodontal disease) has been shown to have associations with many different systemic diseases. One such systemic disease is rheumatoid arthritis (RA). So far, any mechanism has remained elusive. In a recent study appearing in PLoS Pathogens, researchers at the University of Louisville School of Dentistry Oral Health and Systemic Diseases and other researchers from the European Union’s Gums and Joints project have uncovered how the bacteria responsible for periodontal disease known as Porphyromonas gingivalis effects rheumatoid arthritis. The researchers showed that this bacteria leads to faster progression, greater severity and earlier onset of RA and can cause bone and cartilage destruction. The researchers found the bacteria produces a unique enzyme, peptidylarginine deiminanse (PAD), which enhances collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), which is an arthritis produced in the lab designed … Read more

Treating Gum Disease Helps Rheumatoid Arthritis

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Researchers from the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine and University Hospitals of Cleveland recently reported that people who cure their gum disease can decreased their arthritic pain if they surrfer from rheumatoid arthritis. “It was exciting to find that if we eliminated the infection and inflammation in the gums, then patients with a severe kind of active rheumatoid arthritis reported improvement on the signs and symptoms of that disease,” said Nabil Bissada, D.D.S. According to Ali Askari, M.D., chair of the department of rheumatology at University Hospitals, “From way back, rheumatologists and other clinicians have been perplexed by the myth that gum disease may have a big role in causing systematic disease.” Askari and Bissada are part of a team of researchers that studied 40 patients with  periodontal disease and a severe form of rheumatoid arthritis. The … Read more