Objective:
Aggressive periodontitis is a
disease entity that can be classified as Stages III & IV and Grade C
chronic periodontitis based on the 2017
classification of the American
Association of Periodontology for
periodontal diseases. It is a class of chronic
periodontal disease that features clinically severe periodontal
tissue destruction. The
diagnosis of
aggressive periodontitis in this
environment is delayed because of some influencing factors such as lack of dental
awareness,
patients' poor
attitude towards this
disease entity and their low socio-
economic status. The objective of this case series is to highlight the factors that influence the
time of presentation and severity of periodontal
tissue destruction of Stages III & IV and Grade C
chronic periodontitis (
aggressive periodontitis) in this
environment. Cases Description We present the summary of the
history, clinical features and radiological findings of four (4) cases of early and delayed presentation of
aggressive periodontitis patients aged 19-27 years and factors that influenced their
time of presentation. Severe periodontal
tissue destruction was a common feature in these four cases with eventual
tooth/
teeth loss in delayed presenters. They were all treated using standard
periodontal debridement with
normal saline and 0.2%
chlorhexidine gluconate,
scaling, root planning and systemic
antibiotics therapy. The
patients provided informed consents, ethical approval was obtained from the institutional ethical committee and the study was conducted in accordance with the
Helsinki declaration of 1975 as revised in 2000.
Results:
The factors that influenced the
time of presentation included dental
awareness through
dental education, missing and mobile
teeth,
fear of further loss of
teeth in the
future, replacement of missing
teeth,
social marginalization, believe in some traditional '
taboos' and socio-
economic status.
Conclusion:
There is a need for aggressive
dental education/enlightenment of the people in this
environment especially on
periodontal disease. Clinical
Significance:
Dental
awareness through
dental education generally influenced
time of presentation which prevents severe destruction of the
periodontium