Abstract
Background: Most research efforts in periodontal epidemiology have focused on middle-aged or older people, giving a picture of disease occurrence at a relatively late stage in the natural history of the condition. There is a paucity of comprehensive descriptive data from younger age groups. Understanding the epidemiology and clinical presentation of the condition earlier in the disease course may enable more appropriate interventions.
Methods: The aim of this study was to describe the occurrence of gingival recession, probing depth, periodontal loss of attachment, and gingivitis among participants at age 26 in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study. Gingival recession and probing depth were measured at three sites per tooth in two randomly selected contralateral quadrants.
Results At age 26, 980 (96.2%) of the surviving cohort participated, and periodontal data were available for 914 individuals. Nearly three-quarters of the sample had one or more teeth with 1+mm of gingival recession, and it was observed at over one-fifth of midbuccal sites. Over 15 per cent had one or more sites with probing depths of 4+mm, and nearly one-fifth had one or more sites with 4+mm of LOA. The extent of gingival recession was greatest for midbuccal sites on mandibular premolars, followed by midbuccal sites on maxillary premolars and mandibular molars. In the mandible, more distolingual sites had probing depths of 4+mm, but a higher percentage of mesiobuccal sites was affected in the maxilla, and molars were the most affected, followed by premolars, incisors and canines. Bleeding after probing was more extensive in the mandible than in the maxilla.
Conclusions: Periodontal disease appears to be well-established among a small proportion of young adults. The prevalence of gingival recession was higher than expected, with clear differences by site. Pocketing and LOA were more prevalent in mesiobuccal and distolingual sites than the buccal sites, with differences between the jaws.