Poor oral health in Graves’ disease with and without orbitopathy: implications for preventive care

Graves’ disease (GD) is the autoimmune thyroid disorder leading to hyperthyroidism. It may be accompanied by a common extrathyroidal manifestation – Graves’ orbitopathy (GO). This study aimed to assess the oral health status of GD patients with and without orbitopathy. This is an observational study with consecutive enrolment. We included patients with GO or GD treated at the Department of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Internal Medicine in Poznan, Poland. The control group consists of age- and gender-matched volunteers. All subjects underwent a physical examination including comprehensive clinical dental examination: an evaluation of dentition status, oral hygiene, as well as periodontal condition, and laboratory assessment Additionally, participants completed a questionnaire regarding their oral hygiene practices. The GO group ( n = 32) demonstrated greater variability in untreated caries and significantly more missing teeth (11 [4–18]) compared with both the GD group ( n = 18) (0 [0–1]) and controls ( n = 50) (1.5 [0–5]). Restorative treatment was also significantly less frequent in the GO group – the median number of filled teeth was much lower (4 [2–9]) compared with both the GD group (9 [8–11]) and controls (10 [8–13]). Moreover, the Approximal Plaque Index (API) was significantly higher in the GO group (0.59 [0.35–0.89]) compared with both the GD group (0.35 [0.23–0.43]) and controls (0.20 [0.14–0.31]). GO patients exhibit significantly poorer oral health status compared with both GD patients without orbitopathy and healthy controls. Therefore, targeted preventive and therapeutic strategies should be implemented.