Prevalence of Periodontal Bone Loss in Brazilian Adolescents through Interproximal Radiography

First Molars–Incisors Rate and Pattern of Bone Loss: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of CBCT Images

Background: Periodontitis causes attachment and alveolar bone loss; hence, this study aimed to determine the prevalence, frequency, and pattern of bone loss at first molar–incisor areas using Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) images. Methods: A retrospective, cross-sectional analysis was conducted of 250 randomly selected CBCT images of clearly defined full arches of patients aged from 18 to 70 years who were divided into six age groups and into male and female groups. Four sites around each tooth were scanned at several accesses for bone loss detection. Distance beyond 2 mm apical to the cementoenamel junction to the level of the remaining bone was considered to indicate bone loss. The Shapiro–Wilk test was used to test the normality of the data, and statistical tests were applied for data analysis at the 0.05 p-value level. Results: The rate and amount of bone loss within the examined sample were relatively high. The examined images generally revealed a higher rate of bone loss on proximal than on labial/buccal and lingual/palatal surfaces of the first upper and lower molars. The highest amount of bone loss among all the teeth scanned in this study was seen on the mesial and distal bone of mandibular incisors, 4.36 mm and 4.31 mm, respectively, exceeding that in the labial and lingual bone, 3.23 mm and 1.89 mm, respectively, and it was highly horizontal rather than vertical in pattern. Conclusions: Based on 250 randomly selected CBCT images of clearly defined, full upper and lower arches scanned for this study, it was concluded that the rate and amount of horizontal bone loss were less than vertical bone loss and was focused mainly in the interproximal areas of the first molars. However, the highest recorded amount of bone loss was at the proximal and labial aspects of the mandibular incisors. Furthermore, younger age groups displayed significantly higher rates and amounts of bone loss than older groups, with a slight predilection for males.

Periodontal Initial Radiological Findings of Genetically Predisposed Finnish Adolescents

INTRODUCTION

Periodontitis is a multifactorial infectious disease of the supporting tissues of teeth in which bacterial, genetic and lifestyle factors such as smoking have an important role.

AIM

The aim was to examine if Bleeding On Probing (BOP ≥ 20%) and ≥ 4 mm deep pockets correlated with any suspicion of initial radiological findings of periodontitis and bone loss. We also investigated whether any pro-inflammatory-related candidate Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) were associated with any suspicion of radiological findings.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Altogether 47 generally healthy adolescent patients of one birth cohort had given their approval for their saliva samples to be used for DNA analysis. One participant was excluded after discrepant gender check. An oral radiologist analysed right and left bitewing radiographs of 47 patients. Clinical parameters such as BOP ≥ 20%, ≥ 4 mm pockets, Visible Plaque Index of all teeth (VPI%), as well as smoking habits were recorded. DNA was extracted and 71 SNPs from candidate genes for initial periodontitis were genotyped. The association between ≥ 4 mm pockets and BOP ≥ 20% with radiological findings and selected SNPs was modelled using logistic regression.

RESULTS

Variants in Toll-Like Receptors 4 (TLR4) gene (rs498670) (OR=5.8, {CI95% 1.6-20.7}, p=0.02, FDR q-value=0.13) and TNFSF11 gene (rs2277438, OR=0.3 {CI95% 0.1-0.9}, p=0.002, FDR q-value=0.56) were associated with any suspicious radiological findings; however the significance vanished after False Discovery Rate analysis (FDR). The association between BOP ≥ 20% and any radiographic signs of periodontitis was found to be statistically significant, OR=1.6, CI 95% 1.0-2.4, p=0.04.

CONCLUSION

Only TLR4 (rs498670) and TNFSF11 (rs2277438) genes were found to have a positive correlation with radiological findings suggestive of initial periodontitis after adjustment for smoking and visible plaque.