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Background and objective: Periodontal disease may be related to a number of systemic diseases. Periodontitis is an extrasynovial chronic inflammatory condition, which has been proposed to be interrelated with rheumatoid arthritis. The aim of the study to determine whether there is a relationship between rheumatoid arthritis and periodontal disease. Materials and methods: A total of 1600 individuals of 30 to 70 years of age and residents of Ankleshwar industry estate in Gujarat, India, were assessed for the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis and periodontal disease. The prevalence and severity of periodontitis was determined by recording the community periodontal index (CPI) with loss of attachment based on WHO guidelines (1997). The criteria for diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis are as given by the American Rheumatism Association 1988. Frequency distributions for bivariate analysis and logistic regression for multivariate analysis were used for assessment of statistical association between variables. Results: In patients referred for periodontal treatment, the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis was 4.5%. Females and subjects aged above 50 years showed a significantly higher prevalence in comparison to their counterparts (p < 0.05). The odds of rheumatoid arthritis in females were nearly three times (OR = 2.78) higher than males which was also statistically significant (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The findings provide evidence for a relationship suggesting that individuals with moderate to severe periodontal disease are at higher risk of suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and vice versa.

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