A COHORT STUDY OF RADIOGRAPHIC ALVEOLAR BONE LOSS DURING ADOLESCENCE

The aim of the present study was to assess the changes in prevalence o f early radiographic alveolar bone loss in a birth cohort (all subject s born 1970) over a period of 8 years as related to sex, ethnic origin , orthodontic treatment and socio-economic status. In 1984, the target population consisted of 2767 subjects. In 1986, 1988 and 1999, sets o f bite-wing radiographs were obtained from samples of the same populat ion. Alveolar bone loss was recorded if the distance from the cemento- enamel junction to the alveolar crest exceeded 2 mm measured on poster ior bite-wing radiographs. The frequency of subjects with radiographic alveolar bone loss increased significantly with age (p<0.05). The num ber of subjects with 3 or more lesions also increased with age. The de mographic variables studied did not seem to influence the prevalence o f bone loss significantly in the present cohort study.