Comparative Study of Periodontal Status in Patients With and Without Trisomy 21 During Treatment With Clear Aligners

OBJECTIVE: To assess the periodontal status of patients with trisomy 21 (T21) compared to non-syndromic patients during orthodontic treatment with clear aligners. METHODS: The sample consisted of 30 patients, both gender, aged between 11 and 35 years, divided into two groups: T21 (n = 10, patients with T21, treated prospectively) and CONTROL (n = 20, control group, non-syndromic patients). In both groups, patients were treated with Invisalign clear aligners (AlignTechnology), following the same treatment parameters. Periodontal status was assessed at five timepoints using the Gingival Bleeding Index (GBI) and the Visible Plaque Index (VPI) following the WHO criteria. Data analysis was performed with the aid of the SPSS 23.0 software, using the Shapiro-Wilk test, chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, Mann-Whitney test, ANOVA, and t-test (α = 0.05). RESULTS: Most participants were male (73.3%) and more than 21 years of age (53.3%). At baseline, the T21 group had greater periodontal pocket depth (0.20 ± 0.42) than the control group (0.00 ± 0.00) (p = 0.039), but both groups reached a mean of 0.00 after 365 days (p = 0.006). The T21 group had consistently higher VPI scores, with means of 64.82 ± 16.05 at baseline and 68.35 ± 18.01 at 365 days (p = 0.000) compared to 19.15 ± 13.93 and 24.61 ± 17.29 in the control group. CONCLUSION: Aligners have proven to be a suitable orthodontic option for patients T21, without worsening the periodontal condition during treatment.