Abstract:

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease, affecting approximately 27 million Americans. It can affect any joint, but it occurs most often in knees, hips, lower back and neck, small joints of the fingers and the bases of the thumb and big toe.

We present a 53 years-old woman with chronic OA of the small joints of the fingers with complaints of pain, swollen and warmed joints of the left and right hands. The patient was referred to the Department of Oral Imaging and Oral Diagnostics to perform a consultation due to elevated levels of CRP and ESR. The patient underwent focal dental diagnostic protocol. We remarked an active dental focus- tooth 46. It was retreated endodontically under antibiotic protection and the patient was followed-up after one month with decreased levels of CRP and ESR.