Bald Patch And Bad Teeth
Posted by: "mmfrguson" mmfrguson@yahoo.co.uk
Fri Feb 22, 2008 5:53 pm (PST)
There is a close relationship between infection outbreaks on teeth
and the presence of alopecia areata or localised alopecia, a type of
hair loss which has an unknown origin. Alopecia areata starts with
bald patches on the scalp, and sometimes elsewhere on the body. The
disease occurs in males and females of all ages, and experts believe
that it affects one out 1000 people.
Research by professors José Antonio Gil Montoya and Antonio Cutando
Soriano, of the Department of Stomatology of the University of
Granada (UGR), advises going to the dentist when patients notice
localised hair loss, in order to receive a careful examination of
their oral health.
`Alopecia areata is a dermatitis which presents the following signs:
The typical pattern is for one or more round bald patches to appear
on the scalp, in the beard, or in the eyebrows, or to undergo a loss
of eyelashes. Alopecia areata is thought to be an auto-immune
disease', stated the researchers.
Hair re-grows in most patients after several months. However, in a
quarter of all patients the condition recurs once or more. According
to professors at the UGR, the affected hair follicles are not
totally destroyed. Therefore, hair can grow back, although patients
who have already suffered from alopecia areata may have recurrences.
Frequently, patients with alopecia areata have hairs with the shape
of an exclamation mark on the border of the bald patch. Hairs become
weak and fall out easily. Several studies suggest that alopecia
areata has unpredictable development: sometimes hair grows back
within a few weeks, but in some cases the disease progresses and can
cause further hair loss on scalp and body.
Until the research at the UGR, which establishes for the first time
a relationship between alopecia areata and dental disease, the
origin of this kind of hair loss was not well known. Hair-follicle
tissue inflames without cicatrisation. In alopecia areata, the
affected hair follicles are mistakenly attacked by the immune
system. Some of the factors that cause alopecia are: genetics,
family history of alopecia, non-specific immune reactions, specific
auto-immune reactions of certain organs and emotional stress.
`We have found that bald patches caused by tooth infection are not
always in the same place. They normally appear on a line projected
from the dental infection and can thus can be located on the face at
the level of the maxillary teeth, above a line through the lip-angle
to the scalp, beard, or even to the eyebrow. Nevertheless, they can
also be located far from infection outbreak,' explained Gil Montoya
and Cutando Soriano.
University of Granada (2007, November 28). Developing A Bald Patch?
It Could Be A Hidden Tooth Infection. ScienceDaily.