In gingival cicatricial pemphigoid (PC) patients, clinical experience has shown that periodontal treatment is beneficial in addition to medical treatment, because the latter does not always allow optimal gingival healing. When the tissue remains erosive despite the systemic treatment, and/or local, anti-inflammatory and/or immunosuppressive, patients frequently report persistent oral discomfort that restricts their diet as well as difficulties in brushing their teeth. Accumulation of dental plaque, organized in bacterial biofilms, therefore becomes inavoidable. However, due to their increasing development, studies have revealed that this dysbiotic periodontal microbiota promotes the growth of virulent, anaerobic, proteolytic bacteria, with high invasive and deleterious properties for periodontal tissues. Furthermore, this process would be amplified in the presence of gingival erosive zones. By eliminating the infectious periodontal gateway, periodontal therapy should allow : i/to restore oral comfort ii/ to prevent any systemic oral infectious complications that may affect the general condition of patients or counteract the effects of drug therapies iii/ to limit the aggravation of concomitant periodontal diseases, and therefore the risk of tooth loss. However in practice, the basic periodontal treatment, combining subgingival scaling and debridement does not systematically meet these objectives. One explanation may be found in the quality of dental bacterial biofilms not yet determined for autoimmune bullous diseases. The main objective of our descriptive observational pilot study, was therefore to study the composition of the periopathogenic flora in patients with gingival CP in order to facilitate the implementation of a more appropriate and efficient periodontal therapy. The secondary objectives were to establish a potential correlation between the composition of this flora and the quality of oral life, the severity of the erosive gingival damage, whether or not to initiate medical treatment, and whether or not there is an underlying periodontitis.
In patients with gingival cicatricial pemphigoid (CP), clinical experience has shown that periodontal treatment is beneficial in addition to medical treatment, because the latter does not always allow optimal gingival healing. However in practice, the basic periodontal treatment, combining subgingival scaling and debridement, may be insufficient especially for severe forms of erosive gingivitis. Therefore, a better knowledge of the periopathogenic flora in such patients would facilitate the implementation of a more appropriate and efficient periodontal therapy. In order to meet this objective, we propose a qualitative analysis of the periodontal microbiota in case of gingival CP via a bi-centric observational microbiological pilot study.