Dental findings in patients with liver cirrhosis. A study of 100 cases.

A study was made of the dental findings in 100 patients with liver cirrhosis (LC) by examining the number of carious, missing and filled teeth. A significantly greater number of carious and missing teeth were observed in the patients with cirrhosis than in a control group of 50 healthy individuals. In the LC group, caries were found to affect more teeth in those patients with alcohol-induced LC than in those with liver disease of other causes. Finally, no relationship was observed between the number of carious, missing or filled teeth and certain determinations including serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT), serum glutamate oxalacetate transaminase (SGOT), alkaline phosphate, platelet number, hepatitis B and C positivity markers, or antinuclear (ANA), antimitochondrial (AMA) or anti-smooth muscle autoantibodies (ASm).