ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the link between AS and periodontitis. METHODS: Medline, Embase, AMED, CINAHL, Web of Science and Google Scholar were searched to identify eligible studies that were selected and reviewed independently by at least two authors. RESULTS: Six case-control studies were included in the review. Study size ranged from 90 to 40 926 participants. The prevalence of periodontitis ranged from 38% to 88% in AS patients and from 26% to 71% in controls. As there was low-level heterogeneity (I(2) = 13%), using fixed effects analysis the overall pooled estimate of the odds ratios for periodontitis was 1.85 (95% CI 1.72, 1.98). There was no evidence of publication bias. CONCLUSION: The results led to the need for a further large study with sufficient statistical power to detect the desired effect size, taking into account potential confounding factors and using validated measures of AS and periodontitis.
