Clinical and Microbiological characterization of Aggressive Periodontitis in Children

Objectives: We have identified a group of over 50 African-American children diagnosed with Aggressive Periodontitis (AgP) within one clinical setting in Tallahassee, Florida. The objective of this study was to clinically and microbiologically characterize this population compared to healthy controls. Methods: A total of 45 children (26 AgP, 9 healthy siblings and 10 healthy controls), 7 to 19 years were included in this study. Clinical diagnosis was performed by full-mouth periodontal probing and radiographic analysis. Plaque samples were taken from 2 diseased (5mm or deeper pocket with bleeding on probing) and 1 healthy site from the AgP children, and from 2 sites from healthy children. DNA-DNA hybridizations were performed to evaluate 19 different species of periodontal pathogens. Results: Disease was found to be localized (mean of 14% sites involved) in 25 of the 26 children examined, mostly on permanent first molars, bone loss was mostly interproximal vertical or arc shaped defects. Most bacteria were found to be present in all 3 groups analyzed. Statistical differences were found in the proportions of F.nucleatum, P.intermedia, T.forsythia, P.gingivalis, A.actinomicetencomitans and E.corrodens, where diseased sites presented the greatest prevalence, although most differences were found to be between AgP diseased sites versus AgP healthy sites, but not versus healthy control sites, except for F.nucleatum. Quantification of bacteria yielded similar results among groups, except for average species from the orange complex, which was higher in the AgP diseased sites when compared to both AgP healthy sites and control sites (p<0.05). Conclusions: A very similar pattern of aggressive periodontal disease was found in a population of African-American children in north Florida. Specific periodontal pathogens seem to play a role in this destruction in susceptible individuals but do not necessarily dictate disease in a population as a whole.