Oral health and oral health-related quality of life in patients with chronic peripheral facial nerve palsy with synkinesis – a case-control-study

Introduction: Bell´s Palsy is the most common cranial nerve lesion leading to partial or complete immobility of the affected half of the face. Assumable, food residues on tooth surfaces cannot be removed by natural self-cleaning mechanisms, increasing dental plaque formation and the risk of dental, periodontal and general diseases. It was the aim of this study to assess oral health, oral hygiene and oral health related quality of life in patients with unilateral peripheral facial nerve palsy (FP). Material and methods: This study included 86 patients. Patients with FP (n=43; 29 female; median age 51 years) in the FP-group (FPG) were matched by age and gender with 43 participants without FP in the control group (CG). Oral health and oral hygiene were assessed in a clinical examination using various established indices. Oral health-related quality of life data (OHQoL) was collected with the Oral health impact profile (Germany-14).Results: Oral health parameters in the FPG were significantly worse than in the CG. It was also observed that the paretic side compared to the non-paretic side of the patients was significantly more affected by inflammatory periodontal diseases and had a higher prevalence of caries. Patients with FP described a greater limitation of the OHQoL than patients without this disease.Conclusion: Patients with FP suffer significantly more frequently from caries, periodontal disease and impaired OHQoL compared to patients without FP. The paretic side of patients with FP shows greater oral deficits than their non-paretic side. It is recommended that patients with FP receive intensive preventive dental care and specific oral hygiene training to prevent a double burden of disease due to defect healing on the one hand and possible oral deficits on the other.

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