Factors Associated With Chronic Periodontitis Risk: A Case-Control Study

Chronic periodontitis is the most prevalent form of periodontitis and it generally considered as a progressive inflammatory disease. Environmental and systemic factors can alter the immune response to biofilm and lead to progressive degenerative disease. Chronic periodontitis is defined as an infectious disease that causes inflammation in the tooth-supporting tissues, periodontal attachment loss, and bone loss. Identification of risk factors for this disease is important. Hence, this study aims to evaluate the risk factors for chronic periodontitis.

 This case-control study was conducted on 120 periodontitis patients and 120 healthy controls in Arak, Iran. A questionnaire was used to estimate their Socio-Economic Status (SES) and survey demographic and risk factors. For the diagnosis of chronic periodontitis, the identification of plaque accumulation site and clinical examination were performed. To investigate the association of chronic periodontitis with study variables, multilevel logistic regression analysis was used in STATA V. 11 software. 

This study obtained its ethical approval from the Research Ethics Committee of Arak University of Medical Sciences under code: 1397.145.

 The Odds Ratio (OR) of chronic periodontitis in adults aged above 30 years was 2.91 (95% CI: 1.01-8.73). Compared to subjects with low SES, the OR of chronic periodontitis was 2.28 (95% CI: 1.22- 4.27) in those with moderate SES and 0.89 (95% CI: 0.79-0.98) in those with high SES. Compared to patients who did not brush their teeth, the OR of chronic periodontitis was 0.67 (95% CI: 0.39-0.89) in patients reported toothbrushing. Compared to those who reported changing toothbrush sooner than 3 months, the OR was 4.96 (95% CI: 2.27-11.3) in those their changed their toothbrush for more than 6 months interval. The OR of chronic periodontitis in current smokers was 3.09 (95% CI: 1.52-4.76).

 Cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, tooth brushing, and SES are the risk factors associated with chronic periodontitis.