THE DIAGNOSTIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HELICOBACTER PYLORI, PERIODONTAL DISEASES AND GASTROESOPHAGEAL REFLUX

Background and objectives. The development of the digestive tract and periodontal diseases is influenced by several general risk factors. One of them is the tooth loss, due to periodontal diseases, which results in poor mas­tication of food and latter gastroesophageal reflux. The second major risk factor is bacterial microflora. Current research is relevant due to the controversial nature of the opinions on the general bacterial causes of the aforemen­tioned diseases and their correlations.

The aim of the study is to confirm the hypothesis that the development of periodontal and gastroesophageal reflux diseases is influenced by the simultaneous colony deve-lopment of Helicobacter pylori in periodontal pockets and the digestive tract.

Material and Methods. A total of 70 respondents were studied. Social and demographic indicators were ana­lyzed based on the data of a questionnaire-based survey. The periodontium was studied clinically; community periodontal index of treatment needs was determined, a rapid urease test (Pronto Dry) was performed to de­tect bacteria. The gastroesophageal reflux disease was analyzed using an endoscope and via survey. The re­spondents were distributed into three test and three age groups. IBM SPSS Statistics 22 software was used for statistical analysis.

Results. A statistically significant correlation was found between the community periodontal index of treatment needs and Reflux symptom index (p=0.004), and urease test (p<0.001) and oral hygiene (p<0.05). No statisti­cally significant correlations were determined between indices (RSI; RFS), age, gender, urease test (p>0.05).

Conclusions. The colony formation of Helicobacter py­lori in periodontium has no impact on the gastroesopha­geal reflux disease but is significantly related to periodon­tal diseases. Thus, the oral cavity is the primary reservoir of internal H. pylori colonization.