Oral mucosa state in adults with Crohn’s disease in relation to disease activity, treatment methods and smoking

Aim: To evaluate the oral mucosa condition in patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) in relation to disease activity, treatment methods and smoking.

Material and methods: The study concerned 70 adults with CD and 70 controls without any systemic disease. Subjects with CD were divided into groups based on disease activity (evaluated with CDAI), treatment method and tobacco smoking. All patients underwent clinical evaluation of the oral mucosa. Oral pathological lesions were photographed and Candida culturing from the oral swabs was performed in all examined subjects. The results were statistically analysed.

Results: Recurrent aphthous stomatitis was observed most frequently in subjects with high activity of CD and in non-smokers. Crohn’s disease activity did not influence buccal mucosa cobblestoning, while white coated tongue was found most often in patients who underwent combined therapy and in tobacco smokers. In subjects with high activity of CD there was observed a high incidence of atrophic glossitis. In the examined subgroups there were no statistically significant differences in Candida occurrence.

Conclusions: Recurrent aphthous stomatitis and atrophic glossitis were observed more frequently in patients with high activity of CD. Crohn’s disease activity, methods of treatment and smoking did not significantly influence oral Candida occurrence in examined patients.