Radiographic study of the prevalence of periodontal bone loss in Australian school-aged children attending the Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prevalence of alveolar bone loss around the first permanent molars, and first and second deciduous molars in Australian school-aged children attending the Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne. METHOD: Nine hundred and ninety-five records were examined for useable bitewing radiographs. From these, radiographs of 542 Australian school children aged 5-12 years were used. The cervical-enamel junction (CEJ) to the alveolar bone crest (ABC) distance was measured using the transparent ruler on the magnifier. Each inter-dental site that was readable was scored as one for the following categories: not available (NA); no bone loss (NBL)- the CEJ-ABC was < or =2 mm; questionable bone loss (QBL): the distance from the CEJ-ABC was >2 and <3 mm; and definite bone loss (DBL): the distance from the CEJ to ABC was > or =3 mm. RESULTS: Seventy-one children (13.0%) were found to have 83 DBL sites, as determined by bone levels >3.0 mm from the CEJ. Seventy children had QBL lesions only, 50 children had DBL only and 21 children had both. The overall prevalence of bone loss was 26%. Second deciduous molars were found to be the most affected teeth with almost 75% lesions being distal. These teeth comprised 50% of the DBL lesions. Children of Asian-Far Eastern origin had a higher percentage of sites with bone loss compared with children of Caucasian origin, being 29.5% and 19.7%, respectively, but lower than that of children of Middle-Eastern origin (35.2%). When the data were analysed with relation to age, there was no relationship between age and prevalence of bone loss. CONCLUSION: In the population studied, there was an overall prevalence of periodontal bone loss of 26% and DBL of 13% in an Australian school-aged group. Calculus was detected infrequently and, where present, was associated with bone loss.

[Idiopathic osteosclerosis in jaw bones. Clinical statistic study on a population of Sardinian origin]. / Osteosclerosi idiopatiche dei mascellari. Indagine clinico-statistica su una popolazione originaria della Sardegna.

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic Osteosclerosis are localized, non-expansive and asymptomatic areas of bone radio-opacity, whose aetiology is unknown. The aim of this study was to assess its frequency, and distribution according to its location and to patients' age and gender, in a sample of patients native in Sardinia. METHODS: 697 consecutive clinical records of patients who underwent odontological treatment at the Department of Odontostomatologic Sciences at Cagliari University, over a 10-year period were studied. The panoramic radiographs attached to the clinical records were examined and searched for all cases that showed radio-opacity areas in maxillary bones that could be identified as idiopathic osteosclerosis (IO). RESULTS: By examining orthopantomographies we have located 58 IOs. We found no significant differences between the sexes; average age was 37.8 years. The mandible has proved to be the most affected site (98.2%) in the first molar tooth region (34.5%), followed by the premolar teeth region (25.9%) and of the second molar tooth (15.5%). The lesions examined had an average diameter of 8.8 mm. CONCLUSIONS: IO frequency has proved to be slightly higher than that reported in other articles, though remaining significantly lower than the values reported in Eastern populations. From the clinical point of view, IOs have been identified as sporadic radiographic findings without any real pathological relevance, except for one case in which the lesion caused nervous compression and dental retention, so that it was necessary to administer specific treatment.

Occurrence of torus palatinus and mandibularis among women of different ethnic groups.

PURPOSE: To detect the presence of tori in women of different ethnic groups residing in the metropolitan area of Washington, D.C., USA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 448 females between the ages of 18-88 years participated in the study. There were 302 African Americans, 62 Caucasians, 43 Hispanics, 36 Asians, and 5 Native Americans. RESULTS: Tori were detected in 107 African Americans (35.4%), 20 Caucasians (32.3%), 13 Hispanics (30.2%), 14 Asians (38.9%), and 1 of the 5 Native American (20%), (P = 0.328). Torus palatinus were found in 69.7% of women from all ethnic groups (P = 0.107). Slightly higher percentage was seen in the Hispanics, then the African Americans, with the least in the Caucasians. Torus mandibularis were found only in 38.7% of all subjects (P< 0.05), were more common among Caucasians, and were usually bilateral. The presence of both tori was only detected in 8.4% of the participants. There was no relationship between age and the presence of torus mandibularis (r = 0.074) or palatinus (r = 0.008).

Torus palatinus and torus mandibularis: a review of the literature.

The torus has been mentioned in the literature for about 180 years. However, little has been revealed about it until the last two decades when great advances were made in the field of genetics. Its occurrence in various ethnic groups ranges from 9 to 66 per cent. Even between similar ethnic groups living in different environments, different figures have been reported. It has been statistically proven that differences do occur between various ethnic groups and the sexes. In current thinking, the occurrence of tori is considered to be an interplay of genetic and environmental factors. The quasi-continuous genetic or threshold model seems to hold the answers to their formation. This theory proposes that the environmental factors responsible must first reach a threshold level before the genetic factors can express themselves in the individual. Hence, both genetic and environmental factors determine liability, making the system multifactorial.