title: Oral health is impaired in Behçet's disease and is associated with disease severity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to investigate the oral health of Turkish patients with Behçet's disease (BD) and whether it is associated with the disease course.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and twenty patients with BD, 35 patients with recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) and 65 healthy Turkish controls (HC) were included in the study. Oral health was investigated by indices applied in a BD out-patient clinic.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean scores of plaque, sulcus bleeding and gingival indices, probing depth and the number of extracted teeth were observed to be higher in patients with BD and RAS compared to HC (P<0.05). In the linear regression analysis, plaque index score was associated with the presence of oral ulcers and male gender. An elevated plaque index score was observed to be a significant risk factor for increased severity score in patients with BD in the logistic regression analysis (P = 0.034).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Oral health is impaired in BD and associated with disease severity. Improvement of the oral health of BD patients may affect their disease course, leading to a better prognosis.
authors.affiliation: Division of Basic Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Education, Istanbul University, Turkey. goncamumcu@marmara.edu.tr
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mumcu
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ergun
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Inanc
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fresko
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Atalay
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hayran
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Direskeneli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D003774:Dental Plaque Index; D005260:Female; D005881:Gingiva; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009909:Oral Health / Q000592:standards*; D006472:Oral Hemorrhage / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D019226:Oral Ulcer / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011379:Prognosis; D012008:Recurrence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013281:Stomatitis, Aphthous / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D014081:Tooth Extraction; D014099:Toothbrushing; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology