Prevalence of periodontal disease in patients with Familial Mediterranean Fever: A cohort study from central Turkey

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the periodontal status in patients with Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) and in those without this disease. Method and Materials: 84 subjects clinically diagnosed with FMF and 75 systemically healthy controls, matched by age and gender, were recruited. All FMF patients were on a regular daily colchicine treatment and during attack-free periods. Gingival Index (GI), Plaque Index (PI), probing pocket depth (PD), and clinical attachment level (CAL) were measured in all subjects. To evaluate periodontal disease further, patients were stratified into five groups. Education information and smoking habits were recorded. Results: The FMF patients and healthy controls were comparable for age, gender, and smoking status (P > .05). The FMF patients had significantly higher PI and GI values and lower PD and CAL values than those of the control group (P .05). However, there was no significant difference among all groups in terms of periodontal disease severity (P > .05). In the FMF-severe periodontitis group, higher PI and GI values were seen (P .05). However, there was no significant difference between the FMF-severe periodontitis group and the controls with severe periodontitis regarding the PD and CAL values (P > .05). Conclusion: Patients with FMF using colchicine did not manifest higher attachment loss compared to age- and sex-matched systemically healthy controls. Keywords: colchicine, Familial Mediterranean Fever, periodontitis