Oral Health Assessment in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Other Autoimmune Diseases-- Anti- TNF Substudy

The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) inhibition on oral parameters in patients with RA and to examine changes in levels of proinflammatory cytokines in serum, gingival crevicular fluid (GCF), and saliva at an early time point (6-8 wk) and a later time point (14-16 wk) after the initiation of therapy in relation to concomitant assessment of Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and oral clinical variables. The purposes of the study are to: 1. Determine if oral periodontal parameters are affected by TNF inhibition; 2. Examine relationships between periodontal variables and RA variables with TNF inhibition; 3. Determine if there may be potential early response markers of clinical RA response seen using ultrasensitive analysis of oral or serum cytokines.