Periodontitis related between malocclusions and gum disease?

Is there a connection between malocclusions and gum disease??

A new study has been able to investigate in more detail the long-assumed relationship between tooth and jaw malformations and the occurrence of gum disease. The results were partly surprising.

Gum disease can be dangerous

Periodontal disease can be dangerous. They can not only lead to tooth loss, but also increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and type 2 diabetes and may also trigger Alzheimer's, according to scientific research. Dental technicians in Greifswald have now been able to investigate in more detail the long-suspected connection between tooth and jaw malpositions and the occurrence of gum diseases such as gum recession and recessed gingival pockets.

German researchers have more closely examined the long-assumed relationship between malocclusions and gum disease. (Image: Michael Tieck / fotolia.com)

Every second German suffers from periodontitis

As the University Medical Center Greifswald writes in a communication, periodontitis is an inflammation of the gums caused by bacterial plaque, which subsequently leads to destruction of the periodontium and to tooth loss.

More than every second adult in Germany suffers from the "widespread disease" periodontitis, which can be proven to have further health effects.

Scientists from the Center for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery of the University Medical Center Greifswald were now able to use the data from the health study "Study of Health in Pomerania" (SHIP) to investigate the long-assumed relationship between such periodontal diseases and malocclusions.

The analysis included dental and socio-demographic data from 1,202 subjects aged 20 to 39 years. The study results were published in the journal Journal of clinical periodontology.

One-time data evaluation

"The complex data analysis from the Greifswald health study SHIP for every single tooth is unique in this form", said Prof. Dr. med. Olaf Bernhardt from the Greifswald Polyclinic for Tooth Preservation, Periodontics and Endodontics.

"It was done on the tooth, jaw, and subject levels, giving a direct correlation between the condition of the gums in the context of the malposition of a tooth."

According to the information, previous publications have only recorded the general degrees of illness or ignored the tooth and jaw planes.

Teilentwarnung at Zahngstand

The investigations have shown that especially a back displacement of the lower jaw, a deep bite and an enlarged anterior stage (Vorbiss) were mainly associated with a gum decline.

But the initial suspicion that teething caused by increased plaque deposits to gingivitis and thus deepened periodontal pockets, confirmed only partially.

Only high-grade crowding of the anterior teeth was associated with recessed gingival pockets.

Otherwise, there was an increased risk of recessed gingival pockets, especially if the malocclusion could potentially lead to direct traumatic damage to the tooth or the gum area, as was the case in the anterior region with crossbite and deep bite with gingival contact.

Smoking favors periodontitis

"The research results show, on the one hand, that the data on orthodontic treatment must be deepened, because previous studies were insufficiently limited to either the patient or tooth level," says Bernhardt.

"The risk factors for periodontal disease are very complex."

In a recently commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Health IGES report, which has provoked fierce controversial discussions, the patient-relevant benefits of orthodontic services was in part doubted.

"On the other hand, it can not be ruled out at the present time that tooth misalignments have moderate to large effects on the periodontium," Bernhardt summed up the results.

"The overall effect of tooth misalignments on the gums could well account for half of the effect of smoking, as suggested by the results of this population-representative study."

Regular tobacco use is considered to be one of the most common causes of periodontal disease.

The disease is also favored by poor oral hygiene, genetic factors, excessive alcohol consumption, malnutrition and stress.

It is also known that diabetics have a high risk of periodontitis. (Ad)