Background and Aim:

  With regards to the high and increasing prevalence of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and its demolishing effects on central nervous system and oro-facial nerves appearing oral and maxillofacial manifestations, this study was carried out on the prevalence of oral and maxillofacial manifestations and its related factors in MS patients in 2010.

  Materials and methods:

  This cross-sectional study was performed on 400 MS patients that were selected by sequential sampling. Oral and maxillofacial manifestations evaluated were as follows: Trigerninal neuralgia, Dysarthria, Dysphagia, (TemporoMandibular Dysfunction) TMD, facial palsy and visual symptoms .Occurrence of each manifestation was determined and its confidence interval was evaluated within a probability of 95% and the role of the related factors was analyzed with the Chi-square test.

  Results:

  89.2% of the samples demonstrated oral and maxillofacial manifestation .The most frequent manifestations were: Visual symptoms 79.5%, Dysarthria 44.3%, Dysphagia 21%, Facial Palsy 15.3%, and TMD 14.3% and the least frequent was Trigeminal neuralgia with 13.3%. The related individual and familial factors showed no relation to the incidence of these manifestations. However compared to the patients with no oral and maxillofacial symptoms, the ones with these symptoms were three times more likely to contract MS with duration of more than seven years.

  Conclusions:

  This study revealed a high incidence of oral and maxillofacial manifestations in MS patients therefore it cause for great concern.

  Key words:

Multiple Sclerosis, Trigerninal Neuralgia,TMD, Dysphagia,Visual Symptoms,Facial Palsy,  Dysarthria