Introduction:

Rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic inflammatory chronic disease characterized by an autoimmune reaction and it can produce oral and facial manifestations.

Objective:

To describe the maxillofacial manifestations of the rheumatoid arthritis.

Methods:

An observational, descriptive series of cases study, of 25 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, randomly selected, who were admitted in the Rheumatology Service of Saturnino Lora Torres Teaching Clinical-Surgical Provincial Hospital in Santiago de Cuba was carried out, from September, 2016 to February, 2017, to whom an intraoral and extraoral detailed physical examination was made.

Results:

The intraoral localization where more manifestations existed was the protection periodonto (84.0 %), followed by the insertion periodonto (40.0 %). As for the extraoral manifestations, they were scarce, with a mild prevalence of damage in the parotid region (32.0 %). Most of the series presented temporomandibular joint changes (80.0 %) and periodontopathies (84.0 %); while a small minority suffered ulcerations and black stains (with 12.0 % each).

Conclusions:

In this investigation considerable changes of the oral complex were identified, such as periodontopathies, changes of the temporomandibular joint, among other that can influence negatively in the life quality of these patients.

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