An Li1, Lianmin Chen2, Renske Z Thomas3, Ubele van der Velden4, Amaliya Amaliya5, Luc Wm van der Sluis6, Annemarie A Schuller7, Geerten-Has E Tjakkes8. 1. Center for Dentistry and Oral Hygiene, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands; Stomatological Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China. 2. Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China; Department of Pediatrics & Department of Genetics, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands. Electronic address: lianminchen@njmu.edu.cn. 3. Center for Dentistry and Oral Hygiene, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands; Department of Dentistry, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. 4. Department of Periodontology, Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA), University of Amsterdam and VU University, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 5. Department of Periodontology, Dental Faculty, Universitas Padjadjaran, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. 6. Center for Dentistry and Oral Hygiene, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands. 7. Center for Dentistry and Oral Hygiene, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands; Department of Child Health, the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research TNO, Leiden, the Netherlands. 8. Center for Dentistry and Oral Hygiene, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands. Electronic address: g.h.e.tjakkes@umcg.nl.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The reasons for tooth extraction are rarely recorded in epidemiological datasets. It poses a diagnostic challenge to determine if tooth loss is related to periodontal disease (TLPD). The present study aimed to assess the inter-tooth relationships based on the periodontal characteristics of existing teeth. METHODS: A cross-sectional dataset of 8,978 participants with complete periodontal examination (including probing pocket depth [PPD] and clinical attachment loss [CAL]) in the NHANES 2009-2014 was used in this study. Spearman rank correlation was applied to assess the inter-tooth correlations of PPD/CAL among 28 teeth after adjustment for relevant confounders. We further verify our findings in the Java Project on Periodontal Disease with TLPD information available (the number of TLPD = 12). RESULTS: Strong PPD/CAL correlations were observed in adjacent teeth (r for PPD = 0.652, r for CAL = 0.597; false discovery rate [FDR] <0.05) rather than those on non-adjacent teeth (r for PPD = 0.515, r for CAL = 0.476; FDR <0.05). The correlations increased among severe periodontitis cases (CAL ≥5 mm or PPD ≥6 mm). In line with this, we further observed that the teeth adjacent to the TLPD tooth had the most alveolar bone loss in the Java dataset. CONCLUSION: The periodontitis parameters (PPD/CAL) of adjacent teeth could be a potential indicator to estimate TLPD when actual reasons for tooth extraction are unknown. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Periodontally compromised teeth adjacent to a lost tooth may help estimate whether the loss could be related to periodontal disease when the actual extraction reasons are unknown.
OBJECTIVES: The reasons for tooth extraction are rarely recorded in epidemiological datasets. It poses a diagnostic challenge to determine if tooth loss is related to periodontal disease (TLPD). The present study aimed to assess the inter-tooth relationships based on the periodontal characteristics of existing teeth. METHODS: A cross-sectional dataset of 8,978 participants with complete periodontal examination (including probing pocket depth [PPD] and clinical attachment loss [CAL]) in the NHANES 2009-2014 was used in this study. Spearman rank correlation was applied to assess the inter-tooth correlations of PPD/CAL among 28 teeth after adjustment for relevant confounders. We further verify our findings in the Java Project on Periodontal Disease with TLPD information available (the number of TLPD = 12). RESULTS: Strong PPD/CAL correlations were observed in adjacent teeth (r for PPD = 0.652, r for CAL = 0.597; false discovery rate [FDR] <0.05) rather than those on non-adjacent teeth (r for PPD = 0.515, r for CAL = 0.476; FDR <0.05). The correlations increased among severe periodontitis cases (CAL ≥5 mm or PPD ≥6 mm). In line with this, we further observed that the teeth adjacent to the TLPD tooth had the most alveolar bone loss in the Java dataset. CONCLUSION: The periodontitis parameters (PPD/CAL) of adjacent teeth could be a potential indicator to estimate TLPD when actual reasons for tooth extraction are unknown. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Periodontally compromised teeth adjacent to a lost tooth may help estimate whether the loss could be related to periodontal disease when the actual extraction reasons are unknown.