HIV and Periodontal Disease: Redemption or Resurrection

History of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), dates back to 1981 when Centre for Disease Control reported five cases of pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in homosexual men in California. A major medical crisis that has hit families, communities and nations across the world, AIDS has already caused the death of over 30 million people worldwide. Several reports have identified a strong correlation between HIV infection and various oral lesions like oral candidiasis, hairy leukoplakia, Kaposi’s sarcoma, non Hodgkins lymphoma & specific forms of periodontal disease [1]. Periodontal diseases that are most strongly associated with HIV infection include linear gingival erythema, necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis and necrotizing ulcerative periodontitis [2]. Of current interest are the proposed mechanisms by which periodontitis and the pathogens involved may cause reactivation of HIV and the role Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome [IRIS] may play in increasing the frequency of periodontitis in HIV infected individuals under HAART. Though this proposed link is in its infantile stage, it merits due consideration keeping in view the increased prevalence of periodontitis in HIV infected individuals. Besides, periodontitis being definitely treatable and most often preventable, prevention and treatment of periodontitis in HIV infected patients could be ‘a stitch in time’ that could ‘save nine’. The present article is a compilation of initial evidence that suggests a probable role of periodontitis in HIV re-activation; an attempt to invite more attention to this potential link.