Alveolar Bone Loss and Periodontitis in Pre-Menopausal Women with and without HIV
Name: Yunbin (Leah) Kim
School: College of Dental Medicine, Class of 2026
Mentors: Sunil Wadhwa, DDS and Michael Yin, MD, MS
Abstract
Research Question: Does effective antiretroviral therapy prevent periodontal disease in young women with HIV?
Background: Without effective antiretroviral therapy (ART), people with HIV have increased gum inflammation, measured by bleeding on probing (BOP) and probing depth (PD), and increased periodontal destruction, measured by clinical attachment loss (AL) and alveolar crestal height (ACH). We have previously shown that even with effective ART, post-menopausal women with HIV have greater alveolar bone loss and greater tooth loss compared to women without HIV, but the effect on pre-menopausal women has not been studied.
Methods: 70 self-reported pre-menopausal women (21 HIV+ with virological suppression on ART, 49 HIV-; 34% African American, 54% Hispanic, and 11% White) were recruited in a prospective study at CUIMC. A full-mouth periodontal examination and intraoral radiographs were used to record PD, AL, BOP, number of teeth present, and ACH. Whole-mouth mean was calculated, and Unpaired Student T-tests were used to determine differences.
Results: Pre-menopausal women with HIV had significantly higher mean PD (3.46 +/- 0.98 mm vs. 2.84 +/- 0.69, p<0.01), mean AL (3.63 +/-1.00 mm vs. 2.94 +/- 0.85, p<0.01), % BOP (0.38 +/- 0.27 vs. 0.23 +/- 0.20, p=0.0137) and mean ACH (2.90 +/- 1.04 mm vs. 2.31 +/- 0.82, p=0.0188). After adjusting for age and race/ethnicity, PD and AL remained significant.
Conclusions: Our results support that even with effective ART, pre-menopausal women with HIV have increased periodontal soft tissue inflammation and destruction compared to women without HIV. Longitudinal studies are needed to assess periodontal disease progression in women with HIV through the menopause.