Prospective study of adult subjects with gingivitis

Abstract EN

Background : The objective of this study was to monitor prospectively clinical parameters in subjects without signs of destructive periodontal disease who were involved in a primary prevention programmed, and to determine the changes that occurred between yearly examinations over a 3-year period.

Material and Methods : One hundred and twenty-six subjects aged at least 20 years with a maximum of two tooth sites with probing pocket depth (PPD)>4 mm and no proximal sites with clinical attachment loss participated in the study.

Primary prevention was provided at baseline of the study and then every 6 months.

Plaque, bleeding on probing (BoP) and PPD were scored at baseline, 1, 2 and 3 years.

Results : There were no significant changes in the plaque score over the 3 years.

After year 1, the BoP score was significantly improved with 5.6 %, while no further improvement in BoP was found at years 2 and 3.

The mean PPD decreased from 2.3 to 2.1 mm over the 3 years (p<0.05).

Conclusion : Although some individuals exhibiting minor signs of periodontal pathology may have benefited from the primary prevention, the overall clinical improvement was limited for such subjects in the present 3-year study.