Periodontal Risk Assessment

Methods: A total of 74 patients randomly selected with chronic periodontitis were included in the study. After a comprehensive periodontal evaluation, their risk for periodontitis was analyzed to calculate for Risk Scores (PreViser®, previser.com), GenoType® PST® plus (Hain Lifescience) and micro-IDent® plus (Hain Lifescience).

Results: Microbial profiles differed markedly among samples from different genotype and risk scores. Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (Aa) was higher in the Genotype positive population, while Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg), Treponema denticola (Td), Prevotella intermedia (Pi), Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn) were higher in high Risk Score population. Oral hygiene and Pg had positive associations to attachment loss with 0.757mm for oral hygiene (P=0.012) and 0.988mm for Pg positive patients (p=0.002) after age and gender adjustment. For recession, Pg had positive associations to the recession level with 0.463mm (P=0.029). Gender and Aa had negative associations to the recession with -0.403mm for male gender (P=0.046) and -0.546mm for Aa positive patients (p=0.013). For probing depth, oral hygiene, Aa, Tannerella forsythia (Tf), Age and gender had positive associations to the probing depth level with 0.891mm for oral hygiene (p=0.000), 0.854mm for Aa (p=0.000), 0.859mm for Tf (p=0.005), 0.226mm for older age (0.008), and 0.483mm for male gender (p=0.024). The major periodontal pathogen (i.e., Aa, Pg, Tf, Td, Pi) from the deepest pockets were significantly associated with the ones from the tongue samples.

Conclusion: Our current investigation showed a possible association among risk factors, genetic and microbial assessment, and computerized risk calculator (PreViser®). Understanding and prevention of these factors are key components to successful periodontal disease management. Further investigation is necessary to confirm the findings and to determine the effect of therapy on the above studied parameters.