Introduction: One of the serious public health problems nowadays is the hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Hepatitis C virus infection morbidity is associated with a diversity of extrahepatic disorders counting the oral cavity. Some of the oral manifestations are oral diseases like lichen planus and xerostomia and side effects of the virus therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the oral health status, of patients with and without virus C in a sample of the Egyptian population.
Methods: Data were collected from the Gastroenterology department at Benha University. The study was designed as a case-control study; 39 Egyptian hepatitis C patients (Cases) and 75 Egyptian non-hepatitis C patients (Control). Oral examinations were done according to the modified WHO oral health survey 2013 criteria.
Results: The prevalence of xerostomia was 69.2 % and 69.3% in cases and controls respectively, with no statistically significant difference between the two groups. Skin hyperpigmentation was 46.2%, 16% in cases, and control groups respectively with a statistically significant difference between the two groups. The least manifestation was lichen planus, recurrent aphthous ulcer (RAU), and candidal infection.
Conclusions: Many changes in the oral cavity were found higher at the control group as compared to the case group except for the skin hyperpigmentation that was higher among the hepatitis C patients. Our findings reinforce other regional studies with a bigger sample in hepatitis C patients.