Oral health and related quality of life status in patients from UK and Turkey: a comparative study in Behcet's disease.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare oral health-related quality of life (oral QoL) in patients from UK and Turkey with Behcet's disease (BD). METHODS: Thirty-one BD patients from UK (F/M: 18/13, mean age: 41.8 +/- 11.5 years) and Turkey (F/M: 18/13, mean age: 41.5 +/- 10.3) who were matched according to age and gender were included in the study. All patients had active oral ulcers. Oral QoL was assessed by Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14). Oral health was evaluated by dental and periodontal indices. RESULTS: No significant difference was found in OHIP-14 scores between patients from UK (22.7 +/- 14.4) and Turkey (20.4 +/- 14.3) (P = 0.709). The OHIP-14 score correlated with the healing time of oral ulcers in UK (r = 0.4, P = 0.04) and the number of oral ulcers in Turkey (r = 0.4, P = 0.012). The number of oral ulcers per month was significantly higher in UK (3.3 +/- 2.8) compared with that in Turkey (1.5 +/- 2.5) (P = 0.014). However, the number of filled teeth and frequency of tooth brushing were significantly lower in patients from Turkey compared with those in UK (P = 0.000). Similarly, the duration since the last dental visit (5.1 +/- 7.2 months) was significantly lower in UK compared with that in Turkey (28.6 +/- 23.7 months) (P = 0.000). CONCLUSIONS: Oral QoL was similar in patients from UK and Turkey with active oral ulcers. However, the number of oral ulcers was observed to be higher in UK. As expected, a lower utilization rate of dental services might have led to a poorer oral health in patients from Turkey.

Combined topical dexamethasone/tacrolimus therapy for management of oral chronic GVHD.

Chronic GVHD (cGVHD) frequently affects the oral cavity. The purpose of this study was to estimate the efficacy of combined topical dexamethasone (DEX) and tacrolimus (TAC) solutions in the management of oral cGVHD. The records of 14 patients with oral cGVHD treated with combined topical DEX/TAC were reviewed retrospectively. Pre-to-post treatment changes in subjective and objective measures were evaluated at a median follow-up of 60 days. Serum TAC levels were examined. Marginal objective improvement was detected at follow-up. The median pre-to-post treatment differences were 0.5 (range, -1 to 1) for erythema score, and 0.5 (range, 0 to 2) for lichenoid score, (P=0.06, 0.07 and 0.02, respectively). Subjective improvement was noted in three of four measures at the follow-up visit. The median differences in pain, sensitivity and dryness scores were 1 (range -1 to 6), 1 (range -3 to 5) and 2.5 (range, -5 to 5), respectively (0-10 scale, P<0.05). Four patients (37%) showed increased serum TAC levels; however, all remained within therapeutic range. In conclusion, combined topical DEX/TAC therapy appears to be effective in reducing symptoms attributable to oral cGVHD. Our data has shown minimal evidence of systemic TAC absorption.