Association between malpositioned teeth and periodontal disease

Objective: To identify malpositioned teeth in patients referred to periodontal treatment in the Brazilian Association of Dentistry, Pernambuco Division and evaluate the association of these irregularities with periodontal health. Methods: The sample comprised 90 individuals aged 15 to 69 years. First, each participant was examined to identify the types of abnormal tooth positions by means of visual inspection. After that, their periodontal health was assessed according to the following clinical parameters: Gingival bleeding on probing, periodontal attachment loss, and probing depth. In bivariate analysis, a chi-square test was used to calculate significance of the associations. Results: Several types of changes in tooth position were detected in the participants, and the most significant were: Rotated teeth (86.7%); crowding (52.2%); and mesially tipped molar (48.9%). All participants had periodontal changes associated with these abnormalities: 100% had gingival bleeding; 67.8%, gingival recession; 54.4%, gingival enlargement; and 28.9%, chronic periodontitis. There were significant associations between gingival recession and the variables buccally tipped tooth and excessive proclination of maxillary incisors, and also between chronic periodontitis and mesially tipped molar, crowding, excessive proclination of maxillary and mandibular incisors, and diastema (p<0.05). The need of multidisciplinary treatment was clear in all the cases. Conclusions: Malpositioned teeth negatively affected the health of periodontal tissues, which draws attention to the importance of a multidisciplinary approach that includes, primarily, periodontal and orthodontic care to improve the oral health of patients. Abstract