GINGIVAL STATE AND DENTAL CALCULUS IN EARLY-ONSET PERIODONTITIS

THIS STUDY WAS UNDERTAKEN TO 1) compare the prevalence of gingival inf lammation and dental calculus in adolescents with early-onset periodon titis and their matched controls and 2) assess and compare the relatio nship between the presence of dental calculus and the extent of gingiv al bleeding and attachment loss in these subjects. The study group con sisted of 1,285 13 to 20 year-old individuals, 651 males and 634 femal es, selected from a national survey of the oral health of U.S. adolesc ents in 1986/1987. It included 709 (55.2%) Blacks, 224 (17.4%) Hispani cs, and 352 (27.4%) Whites. Eighty-nine subjects had localized or gene ralized juvenile periodontitis (JP), 218 had incidental attachment los s (IAL), and 978 were without clinical attachment loss (controls). The controls were matched to cases on gender, race, age, and geographic l ocation. The subjects were examined clinically to assess the percentag e of sites with gingival bleeding and supragingival calculus only and subgingival calculus with or without supragingival calculus. The IAL a nd JP groups had significantly more gingival bleeding and subgingival calculus than the controls. Also, the JP group had significantly highe r prevalence of both conditions than the IAL group. Th percentage of s ites with supragingival calculus was not different between the groups, but varied by ethnicity. Hispanics with JP had the highest percentage of sites with gingival bleeding and subgingival calculus, and the low est percentage of sites with only supragingival calculus. The results demonstrate that gingival inflammation and subgingival calculus are as sociated with early periodontal breakdown, and contradict earlier repo rts of early-onset periodontitis not being associated with these facto rs.