Periodontal disease affects young adults
Periodontal disease affects young adults
2005
British Dental Journal
Periodontal disease develops much earlier than dentists and other health professionals thought, a new study concludes. Clinicians found a significant proportion of young adult patients examined had well-established periodontal disease despite no signs or symptoms, while affected pregnant women faced more than twice the risk of preterm birth and other pregnancy complications as unaffected women, the research also revealed.
The study from the universities of North Carolina and Kentucky, USA, took an in-depth look over time at the condition in wisdom teeth in young adults.
ÏAbout seven years ago, we were asked to spearhead a series of clinical trials to look at what happens if you keep your wisdom teeth and what happens if you have them taken out,Ó said study leader Dr Raymond P. White Jr, Professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery at the UNC School of Dentistry.
ÏPart of the reason was that research at UNC and elsewhere showed that the inflammation in the mouth caused by periodontal infections promoted inflammation in other parts of the body, which contributed in significant ways to coronary artery disease, stroke, kidney disease and obstetric complications,Ó White said. ÏAnother reason was that there has been an increased emphasis on evidence-based medicine over the past decade or so.Ó
The team collected baseline data on about 400 people who planned to keep their wisdom teeth. It surprised the team that a quarter of patients in their 20s had periodontal problems with no symptoms, as it is assumed that the disease affects the older age group of over 35s.
In the evaluation of data from 1,020 higher-risk obstetrics patients enrolled in a National Institutes of Health-sponsored clinical trial, 18 percent delivered preterm, he said. Wisdom teeth were a major contributor to the young women's periodontal disease, and the severity of their disease clearly corresponded with the risk of preterm delivery. It also corresponded with indicators of systemic inflammation, such as elevated C-reactive protein, a substance produced by the liver in response to inflammation anywhere in the body.
Women with the worst periodontal disease around their third molars had more than twice the risk of preterm birth, researchers found. White said that since untreated periodontal disease in effect ÏseedsÓ the bloodstream with disease-causing bacteria, it's important that dentists, obstetricians and other physicians assess wisdom teeth when examining young adults.
ÏAlthough most people eventually will develop pathology with wisdom teeth, periodontal disease, pericoronitis or tooth decay, it is too early to recommend strongly that everyone has their wisdom teeth removed,Ó he said. ÏIt is a good idea to have third molars evaluated before age 25, but since a quarter of people will never have problems with them, a lot depends on how risk-averse one is as to whether their third molars with no detected pathology should be extracted as a precaution.Ó
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© 2005 British Dental Association
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