Digestive Difficulties May Have Dental Effects
May 19, 2010

By Nancy Volkers
InteliHealth News Service

INTELIHEALTH - People with inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD, may have more dental problems, a study says.

Researchers at Chicago Medical School did the study. It involved 83 people with IBD. They were compared with 54 people who did not have IBD.

People with IBD took better care of their teeth than people who did not have IBD. People with IBD:

• Brushed their teeth more often
• Were more likely to floss
• Visited their dentists more often

Even though people with IBD took better care of their teeth, they:

• Had more cavities
• Had more sores in their mouths
• Were more likely to have dry mouth (xerostomia)

The study could not pinpoint any cause-and-effect relationship between oral health, oral hygiene habits and IBD. The authors speculate that oral hygiene practices of people with IBD may alter the populations of bacteria in their mouths. IBD also may have effects in the mouth that experts don't know about yet.

Smoking and malnutrition can contribute to IBD. This disease also may be caused by dietary factors. For example, a study found that people with IBD ate more foods with processed carbohydrates. People who eat this type of diet also may have more cavities than average.

Other studies have found that people with IBD have more tooth decay than people without the disease. Some researchers suggest that IBD and periodontal disease may result from the same or similar causes. They both involve inflammation of tissues that are part of the digestive tract.

The study appears in the May issue of Digestive Disease Sciences.