Clinical, microbiological and immunological features of subjects with destructive periodontal diseases

Abstract 76 subjects with prior evidence of destructive periodontal diseases were monitored clinically and immunologically every 2 months for up to 5 years. Clinical parameters measured included bleeding on probing, gingival redness. plaque accumulation, suppuration, pocket depth and attachment level. Blood samples were taken by venipuncture and serum antibody levels to a series of 18 subgingival species determined. 33 of these subjects showed evidence of active disease during the monitoring period, based on changes in attachment level measurements assessed using the tolerance method of analysis. Mean attachment loss in these 33 subjects varied from 1.4 mm to 9.0 (median value 3.4 mm) and subjects whose mean attachment level was above the median showed a higher % of pockets > 3 mm and more suppuration. Severity of gingival inflammation related poorly to mean attachment loss. Subgingival plaque samples were taken from the active site(s) and from control sites of equal pocket depth and attachment loss in the same active disease subjects, prior to therapy, for predominant cultivable microbiota studies. 50 randomly selected isolates were identified from each sample. Predominant cultivable species in 170 pretreatment active and inactive sites combined (8500 isolates) were enumerated. The most frequently detected species were F. nucleatum (112 sites) and S. intermedius (106 sites), although the predominant species in the samples from each subject differed. The distribution of putative pathogens differed among subjects. For example. A. actinomycetemcomitans was found in 21 samples in 11 subjects and B. forsythus was found in 18 samples from 10 individuals. Antibody response patterns to the 18 subgingival species also varied among subjects. More than 81% (26/32) of the subjects demonstrated a mean elevated serum antibody level to at least 1 micro‐organism, while I subject showed an elevated response to 5 species. No pattern(s) of elevated antibody response(s) could be related to severity of attachment loss. Collectively, the data suggest that clinically, immunologically and microbiologically distinctive destructive periodontal diseases exist, and appropriate classifications could be devised.