A 10–year retrospective study of periodontal disease progression

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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to record the rate of periodontal disease progression over a 10‐year period with respect to individual subject, age and tooth type. 283 subjects, who had undergone a full‐mouth radiographic examination in 1974–76 and at that time were 25–70 years old, were randomly selected from a larger patient sample for a new radiographic examination in 1985–86. 201 subjects (71%) agreed to participate. For each respondent, tooth loss over the 10‐year period was calculated‐The radiographic bone height at the mesial and distal aspect of all teeth was assessed by measuring the distance between the cemento‐enamel junction and the bone crest. Difference in periodontal bone height between the 2 examinations was calculated for each tooth site. The results revealed that the mean number of teeth lost over the 10‐year period was 3.8 (SD 4.6). Tooth mortality, expressed as a % of the no. of teeth present at the initial examination, increased with age and varied between 2.9%‐28.5%. In all age groups, molars had the highest and canines the lowest rate of tooth mortality. The frequency of subjects with loss of > 10 teeth was highest for the initially 45‐year old individuals (20%). 7 individuals (3%) had become edentulous. The mean annual reduction of alveolar bone height varied between 0.07–0.14 mm in the age groups 25–65 years. The initially 70‐year old subjects showed a statistically significant higher annual rate of bone loss (0.28 mm). A mean bone loss over the 10–year period of ≥0.5 mm was observed in ∼75% of all the subjects, while 7% showed a mean bone loss of ≥3 mm. About 55% of the tooth sites had lost between 0.5–2.0 mm in periodontal bone height and 16% showed a longitudinal bone loss of >2 mm. 10 sites or more with longitudinal bone loss of 6 mm were found in 4% of the subjects and ∼ 15% of the subjects accounted for half of the totally recorded tooth sites with a 6 mm longitudinal bone loss.