Alveolar bone loss and the duration of untreated disease were compared in 31 patients with lepromatous leprosy. In general, those patients with the longest confirmed untreated disease also had the greatest alveolar bone loss in the anterior maxilla. These data, taken together with previous observations, suggest that early detection and uninterrupted treatment of lepromatous patients will reduce the osseous deformities of the disease.

No abstract

Summary Alveolar bone loss and periodontal status were measured radiographi cally and clinically in 22 patients with leprosy after a 4-year interval. The average reduction in alveolar bone height in the anterior maxilla ranged from 0·09 to 0· 13 mm per year, being lowest in patients with lepromatous disease. These results are similar to previous measurements of attachment loss, a comparable parameter, in Norwegian patients without leprosy who exhibit good oral hygiene and much better than Sri Lankan patients with poor oral hygiene similar to that fo und in these patients with leprosy. These data suggest that previous observations of increased alveolar bone loss in patients with lepromatous disease are the result of bone lost before treatment and that reduced bone loss in the presence of abundant dental plaque and poor oral hygiene may be related to immune dysfunctions in patients with leprosy.Skeletal manifestations of leprosy in and around the oral cavity were first described as fa cies leprosa, 1 , 2 a tripartite resorption of the maxillary bone involving the nasal surface of the hard palate, its anterior extension, the anterior nasal spine, and its oral projection, the alveolar bone supporting the maxillary incisor teeth. These discoveries made from examinations of the skeletal remains of a medieval population of Danes with leprosy have recently been documented in