Occurrence of radiopaque and mixed lesions at periapical region in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) have different effects on bones, cartilage and joints, sometimes destroying the spine and joints, and other times causing new bone formation. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of RA and AS on the types (radiolucent, radiopaque and mixed) of periapical lesions in jaw bones. METHODS: This study included 708 individuals (97 with AS, 327 with RA and 284 healthy controls (C)) and a total of 17,118 teeth (AS: 2,442; RA: 7,638; C: 7,038). The number of teeth, extracted teeth and teeth with root canal treatment and the presence of radiopaque, radiolucent and mixed periapical lesions were recorded from dental panoramic radiographs. Kruskal–Wallis and chi-square tests were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The frequency of radiopaque lesions in the AS and RA groups was similar (p > 0.05) and significantly higher than in the C group (p < 0.05) (AS: 13.4%; RA: 6.1%; C: 2%). Mixed lesions (AS: 3.1%; RA: 4.0%; C: 0.4%) were statistically significantly higher for the RA group compared to the C group (p < 0.05), while the AS–C and AS–RA groups were similar (p > 0.05). There was no significant difference in terms of radiolucent lesions among groups (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Radiopaque apical lesions were frequent in RA and AS patients, while mixed lesions were significantly higher in RA patients.