The periodontal status of prospective and renal transplant patients

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Abstract
The periodontal condition of 33 prospective and 26 renal transplant recipients was compared with that of systemically healthy subjects, matched for age, teeth present, social status, and sex. One group comprised 21 patients with uremia while the second group consisted of 12 other patients treated with hemodialysis. Ten patients later underwent renal allotransplantation and were also included in the third, immunosuppressed group. The three renal patients groups had significantly (p<0.05) higher mean plaque scores than the control groups. By contrast, the hemodialysis and immunosuppressed patient groups showed significantly (p<0.05) fewer gingival bleeding points than their respective controls. Progressive uremia and immunosuppression by drugs thus entailed less clinical gingivitis. The mean pocket depths and alveolar bone loss, as judged from intra‐oral roentgenograms, were similar among the paired groups. Regression lines of the amount of bone loss by age were computed for the combined renal patients (49 subjects) and the control persons, respectively. The regression slopes were heterogenous (F=6.3; p<0.05). Renal patients above 49 years of age (39% of the group examined) showed significantly (p < 0.05) less bone loss than the control persons. The uremic state and immunosuppression by drugs may retard periodontal breakdown in humans.