Introduction:

medicated gingival enlargement is the most widespread undesirable effect of systemic medication on periodontal tissues, the most frequently implicated drugs are phenytoin, cyclosporine and nifedipine, and there is no consensus on exact prevalence figures.

Objective:

to characterize medicinal gingival enlargement in patients suffering from hypertension, cardiopathy and epilepsy at the Family Physician's Office 21-8 of the “XX Aniversario” Polyclinic.

Method:

a cross-sectional, descriptive, observational study was conducted. Cases were selected by intentional non-probabilistic sampling by criteria, the sample was made up of 46 people. Theoretical and empirical methods were applied that included the application of epidemiological indices. The information was grouped in tables of contingencies and frequencies.

Results:

the prevalence of gingival enlargement was 4.3% without distinction of age or sex and it affected those who suffer from epilepsy. Phenytoin and carbamazepine were the drugs that produced it, risk factors were identified: age, sex, time and dose of drug consumption, oral hygiene and periodontal condition.

Conclusions:

prevalence of gingival enlargement was low, with severity grade 2 and 3, exclusive of epileptic patients treated with carbamazepine and phenytoin. It affected equally young people of both sexes. Poor oral hygiene and chronic inflammatory periodontal disease were present.

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