Response to Treatment & Retrospective Analysis of Primary Radiographs in Children With Localized Aggressive Periodontal Disease

Objectives: Current literature is unavailable regarding long-term response to treatment of localized aggressive periodontitis (LAP). Objectives: Evaluate a 5-year response to non-surgical periodontal therapy of children/adolescents diagnosed with LAP and identify, using a retrospective analysis, the prevalence of disease on primary dentition in patients diagnosed with LAP in permanent dentition.
Methods: Methods: 134 African-American participants, ages of 5-25, diagnosed with LAP were identified. Radiographic images of primary dentition from 18 permanent dentition LAP patients and 12 siblings of LAP with no disease were gathered for the retrospective analysis. LAP patients underwent periodontal mechanical therapy followed by one-week of amoxicillin/metronidazole at baseline. Mechanical therapy was repeated at each follow-up visit, as needed. Clinical parameters, including pocket depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL), were analyzed at baseline, 3, 6, 12, 18, 24 months, then annually for 3 years.
Results: Results: Periodontal therapy was found to reduce PD and CAL in 98% of all patients with LAP by 24 months (mean reductions 2.086±0.89 and 2.529±1.4-mm, respectively). The percentage of LAP affected sites reduced at all time points by 24-months. At a site level analysis, 87% of affected sites showed reduction in PD and 90% in CAL up to 24-months. Preliminary results for the retrospective analysis of x-rays indicated that 61% of LAP patients in permanent dentition presented bone loss on their primary dentition. Interestingly, 42% of the healthy siblings, who enrolled in the study with healthy permanent dentition, presented bone loss in their primary dentition, 2 of those developing disease later in the study.
Conclusions: Conclusion: These methods were found to be effective in the reduction of important clinical parameters in over 90% of patients with LAP for up to 5 years. Preliminary data on retrospective radiographic analysis indicate the majority of patients diagnosed with LAP in permanent dentition did present bone loss in primary dentition.