CLINICAL INDICATORS OF PROBING ATTACHMENT LOSS FOLLOWING INITIAL PERIODONTAL TREATMENT IN ADVANCED PERIODONTITIS PATIENTS

16 advanced periodontitis patients were subjected to initial periodont al treatment and monitored every 3rd month during 42 months. Clinical characteristics at baseline and during the 42-month maintenance period were investigated for their association with probing attachment loss over the 42-month period, both on a patient level and on a site level. On a patient level, averaged full-mouth plaque and bleeding on probin g scores over the maintenance interval showed little association with probing attachment loss. Little association was also observed for % si tes with depth greater than or equal to 6 mm at baseline. However, a n otable relationship was seen for % sites greater than or equal to 6 mm at 3 months. This finding initiated a separation of the 16 subjects i nto 2 groups based upon % sites greater than or equal to 6 mm at 3 mon ths (groups 'high' and 'low'). Site level analyses for these groups sh owed little association between frequent presence of plaque at the sit es over the maintenance interval and probing attachment loss. Frequent bleeding on probing showed limited relationship with attachment loss for group 'low', but an appreciable association for group 'high', The findings suggest that advanced periodontitis patients with multiple re sidual probing depths greater than or equal to 6 mm at re-evaluation r un a greater risk of developing sites with additional attachment loss than patients with few such residual depths. For such higher risk pati ents, bleeding on probing at maintenance examinations may be a useful indicator of subsequent deterioration at a site level.