THE EFFECT OF AGE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF GINGIVITIS - CLINICAL, MICROBIOLOGICAL AND HISTOLOGICAL-FINDINGS

In the present ''experimental gingivitis'' study, the response of the marginal gingiva to plaque formation was studied in one group of young subjects, 20- 25 years of age, and in one group of older subjects, ag ed 65-80 years. During a 4-week period, all subjects received a series of professional tooth cleaning to establish healthy gingival conditio ns. A baseline examination (Day 0) included assessments of plaque and gingivitis. Sites that were examined (the experimental sites) included the mesio-palatal, palatal, and disto-palatal surfaces of all teeth p resent in the 15 ... 25 tooth region. Among the experimental sites, mi crobial sampling and gingival fluid assessment were performed and one gingival biopsy harvested from each subject. Following the baseline ex amination, the participants abolished mechanical tooth cleaning measur es in the palatal and approximal surfaces of 15 ... 25. The clinical e xamination and the gingival fluid measurement were repeated on days 7, 14 and 21 of no oral hygiene. The microbiological sampling and the bi opsy procedure were repeated on days 7 and 21. The data collected demo nstrated that old subjects, during a 3-week period of oral hygiene abs tention, formed similar amounts of plaque as the young subjects, but d eveloped more gingivitis than young subjects. Thus, the clinical gingi vitis assessments, the gingival fluid measurements and morphometric de terminations made in the biopsy samples documented that the gingival l esion which formed in the old individuals was more pronounced and cont ained more inflammatory cells than the corresponding lesion in the you ng subject sample.