Gingival+Diseases+Modified+by+Malnutrition

Arlene and Natalie

Gingival Diseases modified by Malnutrition

Carranza Pg. 622 Most clinical studies have not shown a relationship between malnutrition and its role in development of gingival disases. Although severe vitamin C deficiency has gingival manifestations as gingival inflammation and bleeding on probing that were independent of plaque levels.

Carranza Pg. 504 Necrotizing infections in severely malnourished children, especially in children from underdeveloped countries have been described as having lesions resembling NUG but with progression to become gangrenous stomatitis, or noma. In advanced stages, NUG lesions extended from the gingiva to other areas of the oral cavity, becoming noma and causing exposure, necrosis, and sequestration of the alveolar bone. A diminished host resistance to infection and necrotizing disease is a plausible explanation how malnutrition plays a role in necrotizing infections; it can predispose an individual to opportunistic infections or intensify the severity of existing oral infections.