Oral and periodontal manifestations associated with systemic sclerosis: A case series and review

Systemic sclerosis is a rare connective tissue disorder with a wide range of oral manifestations. This case series reports significant oral and periodontal changes and also makes an attempt to correlate oral and systemic findings in these patients which enable the clinician for a better diagnosis and evolve a comprehensive treatment plan. Six patients with a known diagnosis of systemic sclerosis were included. After obtaining the patient's informed consent, relevant medical history, oral manifestations including periodontal findings and oral hygiene index simplified index were recorded. In these patients, oral changes included restricted mouth opening and, resorption of the mandible. The periodontal changes observed were gingival recession, absence or minimal gingival bleeding on probing, and widened periodontal ligament space, radiographically. Patients with systemic sclerosis often show wide range of oral manifestations, which is of major concern for the dentist.