Severe dental caries as the first presenting clinical feature in primary Sjögren's syndrome.

BACKGROUND Sjögren's syndrome is an autoimmune syndrome involving the exocrine glands specially the salivary and lacrimal glands leading to xerostomia and xerophtalmia. This paper presents a case with primary Sjögren's syndrome that severe dental caries were the first clinical manifestation. CASE PRESENTATION A 42-year-old man was referred to the School of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences due to unexplained severe dental decays. After systematic evaluation and consultation with the rheumatologist and the ophthalmologist, the diagnosis of primary Sjögren's syndrome was suggested and confirmed by serologic and histopathologic study. CONCLUSION Primary Sjögren's syndrome should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients with early severe dental caries.