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Prevalence of gum disease in preterm and term adolescents

Stella Vieira

Assess and compare the prevalence of gum disease in a preterm and term-born adolescents. A cross section study was conducted involving adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19. One group of 120 preterm-born adolescents and a group of 149 term-born adolescents (control). Physicians conducted physical exams in these groups to measure pubertal stages, dividing the patients into 3 subgroups according to Tanner’s stages. The dental exam was conducted by four specialist dentist examiners. The community periodontal index of treatment need and measurements of plaque index were conducted. Comparing the preterm-born adolescents to the termborn ones, it was verified that the term group presented a higher prevalence of gum disease than the preterm group and the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.01). There was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of gum disease when comparing the preterm-born adolescents with weight at birth < 1500 to the ones weighing ≥ 1500 grams. The preterm-born adolescent group did not present significant difference in the prevalence of gum disease in relation to Tanner’s subgroups; however, when both groups were assessed together, it was verified that females, after the growth spurt, present a 3.7 times higher risk of gum disease. The ranges of weight upon birth, low weight and very low weight did not impact the prevalence of gum disease in premature adolescents. Growth spurt increases the risk of developing periodontal disease in the female gender. Girls, after the spurt, tend to have more gum disease than girls before the spurt.