Background: Oral conditions and dental disorders are frequent in childhood. Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is a common inflammatory condition characterized by painful recurrent, single or multiple ulcerations of the oral mucosa induced by genetic and environmental factors. Celiac disease (CD) is a chronic small intestinal immunemediated enteropathy precipitated by exposure to dietary gluten in genetically predisposed individuals pathogenetically related to oral condition. The aim of the study was to evaluate the different prevalence of oral conditions in CD patients compared to a control group.
Methods: From January 2013 to June 2013, 166 patients, between 2 and 17 years of age and of both genders, were examined in order to evaluate the presence and the medical history of oral conditions. Clinical features of patients affected by CD were compared with those of a control group with similar socio-demographic features.
Results: We found that the more common lesions in both groups were RAS (69% in CD patients vs. 43% in the control group), followed by dental disorders (76% in CD patients vs. 65% in the control group). Prevalence of RAS between the two groups was significantly different (P<0.0006). Prevalences of caries and dental abnormalities were the same in the two groups (45% vs. 45% and 16% vs. 16% respectively).
Conclusions: In celiac patients there was a significant higher prevalence of RAS compared to a control group. These findings could be possibly associated with common pathogenetic mechanisms.