Evaluation of radiographic bone loss in children and adolescents attended at the Piracicaba Dental School: retrospective study

• Grant number: 21/02026-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2021
• End date: May 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Dentistry - Periodontology
• Principal Investigator: Renato Corrêa Viana Casarin
• Grantee: Murilo César Paraluppi
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Odontologia de Piracicaba (FOP). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease that affects the tooth's supporting tissues and can cause irreversible damage, especially when diagnosed late. Although infrequent, periodontitis can occur in children and adolescents, causing attachment loss in patients with primary and mixed dentition. This condition is most often underdiagnosed in its initial stage, which hinders the early treatment and preventive approaches. Therefore, this project aims to assess the prevalence of radiographic bone loss in children and adolescents who have undergone care at the dental clinic of the Piracicaba Dental School. The database of the electronic system of patients of the institution's undergraduate clinic will be used to access digital interproximal radiographs of children and adolescents (1-15 years old) taken between the years 2011 to 2020. These will be selected according to their image quality, target structures visibility, absence of overlap, adequate perpendicularity, and absence of exfoliative and resorptive processes in primary teeth. Images that do not follow the above standards will be excluded from the evaluations. The distance between the alveolar bone crest (ABC) and the cementoenamel junction (CEJ) will be obtained in the proximal of the deciduous and permanent molars present in the evaluated bitewing radiographs, and the 2mm measurement will be considered as the normal limit. In cases where distances greater than 2 mm are found, the sites will be evaluated for the existence of local and restorative factors that may influence the tissues' behavior. Demographic data of the individuals evaluated and the prevalence of bone loss will be correlated in the studied population. In addition, multiple linear and logistic regression models will be used to assess the effect of the variables evaluated on the distance between bone and JCE and on the presence of radiographic bone loss. The study will use a 5% significance level. (AU)