Pain from these autoimmune diseases can make it difficult for some people to brush or floss their teeth. A study conducted at the Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center found that gum disease and tooth loss are more prevalent in people who have rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Due to the inflammatory nature of the disease, arthritis can also affect your dental health. Inflammation causes gum disease, the number one source of tooth decay and oral infections.
RA can affect the jaw, just as it can affect any other joint in the body, and it is estimated that in more than 17% of patients with RA, the jaw joint is affected.
One study found that if you have RA, you are twice as likely to have gum disease as those without it. Another study found that 65% of people with RA also had gum disease, compared to only 28% of people without RA. In both studies, experts found that the severity of periodontal disease was also worse in people with RA.
It develops when your immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in your body, causing painful swelling in the affected area. Although it is commonly characterized by inflammation in the wrists and knees, rheumatoid arthritis can also affect your jaw and teeth—here's how.
Anti-inflammatory medications are commonly used to treat jaw pain from RA. Over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as Aleve (naproxen) and Advil (ibuprofen) help reduce swelling and jaw pain.
A new study says rheumatoid arthritis is associated with other diseases like diabetes and heart disease, irritable bowel disease (IBD), sleep apnea and blood clots. Rheumatoid arthritis, often known as RA, is a disease of the joints that is characterized by pain and inflammation.
About Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus
Both conditions are autoimmune diseases that occur when the immune system mistakenly attacks parts of the body that it is designed to protect.
Arthritis can cause painful, swollen knees or fingers that are impossible to ignore. But other parts of the body, including the skin, eyes and lungs can also be affected.
Chemotherapy treatments – Chemotherapy medications, like methotrexate, can lead to inflammation of the inside lining of your mouth and result in tooth decay.
Mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) is a rare systemic autoimmune disorder, which can affect the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). The literature on TMJ dysfunction in patients with MCTD is however sparse.
Sjogren's Syndrome is one of the most common autoimmune diseases that affect dental health.
The end stage of RA means that most of the tissue that was formerly inflamed has been destroyed, and bone erosion has occurred. The affected joints stop functioning and patients experience pain and severe loss of mobility.
Autoimmune diseases often cause damage to the blood vessels and nerves in the body, which includes those in the mouth. When blood vessels in the gums are damaged, there is an increased risk of gum disease. The support structure for the teeth can also start to deteriorate as a result.
Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lifespan
In the study, the median survival rate for healthy adults was approximately 82 years while the median survival rate for people with RA was approximately 77 years.
“If you notice that you cannot move your joints as much or as easily as before, even if you don't have swelling or pain, your RA may be getting worse,” says Dr. Ghosh. Changes in the way joints look or function, which do not improve with changes in RA treatment, can be a sign of disease progression, says Dr. Wallace.
Gout. Crystal-deposition diseases like gout and pseudogout are often mistaken for RA. With these conditions, uric acid crystal deposits settle around affected joints, resulting in inflammation and tissue damage.
Reprinted from the Clinical Slide Collection on the Rheumatic Diseases, copyright 1991, 1995, 1997. Used by permission of the American College of Rheumatology. Atherosclerosis is the most common cardiovascular manifestation in rheumatoid arthritis. It is also the leading cause of death in the RA patient.
No blood test can definitively prove or rule out a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, but several tests can show indications of the condition. Some of the main blood tests used include: erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) – which can help assess levels of inflammation in the body.
“Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis that affects the TMJ.” Some people may be more at risk for arthritis in the jaw than others. “Macro or microtrauma, through grinding or clenching, along with decreased lubrication in the joint may increase the risk for developing arthritis,” Dr. Levi says.
Osteoarthritis (OA), is the most common type of arthritis affecting the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) — the jaw — but rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis, juvenile arthritis (JA) and lupus are also associated with TMJ pain in adults.