Prevalence and risk indicators for attachment loss in an urban population of South India.

Aim: To estimate the prevalence and severity of attachment loss in an urban population of South India and to determine related risk indicators.

Materials And Methods: This population based cross sectional study used a subset of data from a large survey representative of urban population from Chennai city. The sample consisted of 900 subjects in the age range of 17 years to 87 years. Participants were interviewed using a structured proforma and subjected to a full mouth clinical examination of six sites per tooth. The prevalence of clinical attachment level (CAL) and association with various risk indicators was assessed.

Results: Out of the 900 subjects examined, 868 (96.4%) had CAL <5 mm and 32 (3.6%) had CAL ≥ 5 mm. Age, smoking, poor oral hygiene were found to be independent risk indicators for CAL (p<0.05). Smoking (pack years) was found to exhibit a dose response effect with CAL (Kendall's Tau coefficient = 0.098) (p<0.05).

Conclusion: In this urban population, a low prevalence of CAL ≥ 5 mm was observed. Amongst the risk indicators evaluated, age, smoking and poor oral hygiene contribute significantly to attachment loss.