Oral involvement in primary Sjögren syndrome.
BACKGROUND
In small studies, investigators have described oral features and their sequelae in primary Sjögren syndrome (PSS), but they have not provided a full picture of the aspects and implications of oral involvement. The authors describe what is, to their knowledge, the first large-scale evaluation to do so. In addition, they report data regarding utilization and cost of dental care among patients with PSS.


METHODS
The authors surveyed patients with primary Sjögren syndrome as identified by their physicians (PhysR-PSS), patient-members of the Sjögren's Syndrome Foundation (SSF-PSS) and control subjects who did not have PSS. They made comparisons between the three groups.


RESULTS
Subjects were 277 patients with PhysR-PSS, 1,225 patients with SSF-PSS and 606 control subjects. More than 96 percent of those in the patient groups experienced oral problems. An oral complaint was the initial symptom in more than one-half of the patients. Xerostomia-associated signs and symptoms were common and severe, as evidenced by scores on an inventory of sicca symptoms. These patients' rate of dental care utilization was high, and the care was costly.


CONCLUSIONS
Oral and dental disease in PSS is extensive and persistent and represents a significant burden of illness.


CONCLUSIONS
Oral symptoms and signs are common in patients with PSS. Early recognition of the significance of these findings by oral specialists could accelerate diagnosis and minimize oral morbidities.
Fox
Philip C
PC
PC Fox Consulting, Via Monterione, Spello, Italy. pcfox@comcast.net
Bowman
Simon J
SJ
Segal
Barbara
B
Vivino
Frederick B
FB
Murukutla
Nandita
N
Choueiri
Karen
K
Ogale
Sarika
S
McLean
Lachy
L
D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D017742:Dental Care for Chronically Ill; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D009909:Oral Health; D012016:Reference Values; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D014987:Xerostomia / Q000150:complications