A Clinical Study of Gingival Inflammation in Renal Transplant Recipients Taking Immunosuppressive Drugs

The relationship between the gingival inflammation and plaque scores of patients who had received kidney transplants and were taking immunosuppressive drugs to combat rejection pheomena was compared with data from a control group. Equivalent plaque scores were associated with less gingival inflammation in the patients taking the immunosuppressive drugs. While there was no signficant difference between the plaque scores of the two groups the control group displayed signficantly more gingival inflammation. The implications of these results with respect to possible etiological mechanisms operating in periodontal disease are discussed.