Clinical course of chronic periodontitis

Abstract

This study has shown that, as men approach 60 years of age, gingival sites that throughout the 26 years of observation bled on probing had approximately 70% more attachment loss than sites that were consistently non-inflamed (GI = 0). Before 40 years of age, there was a slight increase in periodontal attachment loss due to pocket formation, but after this, the frequency increased significantly. Loss of attachment due to gingival recession was very small in all three groups. The fact that sites with non-inflamed gingiva also exhibited some loss of attachment and pocket formation may be explained by fluctuation in the variations of tissue status during long observation intervals combined with the presence of subclinical inflammation.