Treatment of aggressive periodontitis in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus: A case report with 8 years follow-up

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with oral desquamative lesions is one of the rare clinical entities. Periodontal disease and SLE display various mechanisms and possess a wide range of pathological characteristics. The tissue destruction mechanism of periodontitis and autoimmune diseases share similar pathways, and mounting reports studied the association between these two entities. The present case is of a 24-year-old female patient who complained of generalized widening of spaces in between the teeth. Along with it, She suffered from loss of hair, weakness, edema in the legs as well as arthralgia. The patient was identified to be suffering from SLE according to the American Rheumatism Association and European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology criteria 1 year before she reported to the dentist. She suffered from hair loss, weakness, arthralgia as well as edema in the legs. Based on the oral, clinical, and radiographic findings, she was diagnosed with aggressive periodontitis case. After nonsurgical periodontal treatment, the flap was reflected, debridement was done, after root conditioning with tetracycline, bovine osseous xenograft was placed in all the sites where ever there is angular bone loss, later sutured with interrupted direct loop suturing technique with 4-0 silk suture. Clinical and radiographic evaluation was done every 6 weeks to check the progress of the treatment. 6 months and 8-year follow-up revealed satisfactory clinical and radiographic outcomes. Based on the present case report and the previous literature, we recommend the use of xenograft in treating aggressive periodontitis patients.