A 10-year retrospective study of periodontal disease progression.

Abstract The present study reports on some characteristics of 2 groups of subjects, chosen from a sample of 191 dentate individuals who had been exposed to full-month intraoral radiographic examinations in 1975 and 1985. The 1st group, which comprised 14 subjects, had experienced pronounced loss of periodontal bone support during a 10-year period (mean longitudinal bone loss of 4.13 mm (S.D. 1.4)). The 2nd group of 14 subjects had suffered no or minimal periodontal disease progression (mean longitudinal bone gain of 0.35 mm (S.D. 0.7)). A clinical examination was performed in conjunction with the radiographic examination in 1985 and included assessment of plaque, gingivitis, bleeding on probing from the base of the pocket, probing depth and probing attachment loss. Information regarding the oral hygiene habits of the subjects as well as the amount of dental and periodontal therapy received between 1975 and 1985 was obtained through a questionnaire. The results revealed that the 14 subjects who had experienced pronounced progression of periodontal disease had more plaque and gingivitis, deeper pockets and more attachment loss than the 14 subjects with minimal periodontal disease progression. Over the 10-year period, subjects in the “high rate” group had lost a mean of 6.8 teeth (S.D. 5.0) as compared to 4.1 teeth (S.D. 4.4) in the “low rate” group. The radiographic assessments of alveolar bone loss were strongly correlated with the assessments of probing attachment loss (r= 0.80, p= 0.0001). In 92% of the tooth sites examined, the difference between the radiographic and the clinical assessment was within 2 mm. The questionnaire data disclosed that subjects in the 2 groups had similar oral hygiene habits and were subjected to dental treatment equally often. However, subjects in the “high rate” group, claimed to have received a greater amount of periodontal treatment over the 10-year period than their “low rate” counterparts.