Periodontal Attachment Loss in an Untreated Isolated Population of Brazil

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence, extent and severity of clinical attachment loss (CAL); and to investigate the associations between demographic, socioeconomic and behavioral risk indicators with CAL in an untreated isolated population in Brazil.

Methods: All subjects aged 12 years or more were identified by a census. Participants were submitted to a full-mouth clinical examination of six sites per tooth and were interviewed using a structured written questionnaire.

Results: Among the 214 subjects who were interviewed and clinically examined, CAL ≥ 5 mm in at least one site was observed in 8% of the 12-19-year-olds and in all dentate 50+ year-old subjects, while the age dependent prevalence of CAL ≥ 7mm in at least one site ranged between 5% among 12-19-year-olds, and 83% among 50+-year-olds. Multivariate analysis identified plaque (OR=2.8), supragingival calculus (OR=2.9-10.6), age ≥ 30 years (OR=11.4) and smoking (OR=2.4) as risk indicators for CAL ≥ 5 mm, and smoking (OR=8.2) for CAL ≥ 7mm.

Conclusion: The results demonstrate that CAL is highly prevalent in this isolated population. The high occurrence of CAL in young age groups and the confirmation of traditional risk indicators for CAL in this study suggest that other factors such as host susceptibility may be needed to explain the high levels of CAL found. Age and behavioral factors were risk indicators significantly associated with the CAL found in this population, and may be useful indicators of high-risk subjects for periodontal diseases.