IADR Abstract Archives
Case Definition in Chronic Periodontitis: the Reliability of Half-Mouth Protocols
Objectives: The clinical parameters currently used to describe the severity and prevalence of chronic adult periodontitis include periodontal pocket depth (PPD), and clinical attachment loss (CAL) measurements. Both PPD and CAL measure periodontal disease sequelae and are currently used for CDC/AAP case definition. Although whole-mouth examination is considered the gold standard for periodontal disease assessment, this is often difficult to be performed, due to lack of time and resources. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to compare half-mouth with whole-mouth examinations, based on CAL and PPD assessments.
Methods: This pilot investigation was designed as a cross-sectional, pretreatment study. Twenty-one adult subjects with moderate and severe periodontal disease and no systemic diseases were recruited from a private dental clinic, Bucharest, Romania. The mean age of patients was 40.5 years old. Nine patients were females. All patients had at least 20 teeth. Periodontal full-mouth examinations were conducted by one trained calibrated examiner. A total of 2040 interproximal sites were examined. Obtained data were expressed as number of sites with a specific measurement, per quadrant and per mouth. Finally, based on the percentage of patients, the results were compared between couples of quadrants and full-mouth recordings. Kruskal-Wallis test was used for comparisons.
Results: No statistical significant differences between two-quadrant and full-mouth assessments were recorded when comparing patients’ percentages, in terms of PPD and CAL measurements. Minimal misclassifications were observed.
Conclusions: In the present study, random half-mouth protocols were considered reliable to reproduce full-mouth examination, giving good estimations for case prevalence.
Methods: This pilot investigation was designed as a cross-sectional, pretreatment study. Twenty-one adult subjects with moderate and severe periodontal disease and no systemic diseases were recruited from a private dental clinic, Bucharest, Romania. The mean age of patients was 40.5 years old. Nine patients were females. All patients had at least 20 teeth. Periodontal full-mouth examinations were conducted by one trained calibrated examiner. A total of 2040 interproximal sites were examined. Obtained data were expressed as number of sites with a specific measurement, per quadrant and per mouth. Finally, based on the percentage of patients, the results were compared between couples of quadrants and full-mouth recordings. Kruskal-Wallis test was used for comparisons.
Results: No statistical significant differences between two-quadrant and full-mouth assessments were recorded when comparing patients’ percentages, in terms of PPD and CAL measurements. Minimal misclassifications were observed.
Conclusions: In the present study, random half-mouth protocols were considered reliable to reproduce full-mouth examination, giving good estimations for case prevalence.