KNOWLEDGE AND AWARENESS OF ORAL MANIFESTATIONS OF SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS AND CROHN’S DISEASE AMONG DENTAL STUDENTS

Abstract

Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease and causes inflammation of the digestive tract and hence leads to abdominal pain, severe diarrhoea, fatigue, weight loss and malnutrition.Some people may be symptom-free most of their lives, while others can have severe chronic symptoms that never go away.Medications such as steroids and immunosuppressants are used to slow the progression of disease and they require regular screening to check the progression of the disease as well. Lupus erythematosus is a chronic autoimmune disease that can cause severe fatigue and joint pain. There is no treatment for Lupus but current treatments focus on improving quality of life through controlling symptoms and minimising flare-ups. This begins with lifestyle modifications, including sun protection and diet. Further disease management includes medication such as antiinflammatories and steroids. Both these diseases seem to have a variety of oral manifestations that are characteristic to them as well as general manifestations.The survey showed moderate to below average level of awareness regarding the oral manifestations of both lupus and crohn’s disease. Though the awareness is moderate, the awareness level of specific features of oral manifestations were below average. The oral manifestations awareness level was moderate and are practised averagely for both lupus and crohn’s disease but knowledge of identifying features specific for each disease is less and needs to be improved for early diagnosis as well as better prognosis. This survey was aimed to assess the awareness levels regarding the oral manifestations of Lupus erythematosus and Crohn's disease among dental students and correlate the data.