ABSTRACT
Gingival enlargement is a complication associated with certain drugs (antihypertensives, anticonvulsants, and immunosuppressants). Amlodipine is a calcium antagonist and is structurally similar to nifedipine but pharmacodynamically different from it. The prevalence of amlodipine induced gingival enlargement is reported to be 3.3% which is lower than other calcium channel blockers. We wanted to determine the prevalence of amlodipine (calcium channel blocker) mediated gingival enlargement in patients undergoing treatment for hypertension for more than 6 months and explore how the patients' age, gender, treatment duration, and oral hygiene are related to gingival enlargement. METHODSPatients taking amlodipine were inspected for the presence of gingival enlargement using Bokenkamp and Bornhorst Index. Periodontal status of the patient was evaluated with Gingival Index, Plaque Index, Probing Pocket Depth and Clinical Attachment Loss. RESULTSIn our study, 5 patients out of 108 patients on amlodipine were clinically diagnosed with enlargement, patients were prescribed amlodipine with a dosage of 2.5 mg and 5 mg. Enlargement was seen in patients prescribed with a dosage of 5 mg/day. Enlargement was found to begin at the interdental papilla and progress to marginal gingiva. The frequency of gingival enlargement induced by Amlodipine was found to be 4.6%. The ratio of enlargement in males and females was 4:1. Plaque index and gingival index were found to be poor in patients with drug-induced enlargement. CONCLUSIONSDentists and/or periodontists should be aware of the complications of certain systemic drugs such as calcium channel blockers so as to diagnose complications or problems like gingival enlargement