Comparative analysis of the amount of plaque formation and associated gingival inflammation in deciduous, mixed and permanent dentition.

Periodontal diseases in children and adolescents comprise mainly of gingivitis. Gingivitis is an inflammation involving the gingival tissues next to the teeth. Marginal gingivitis is the most common form of periodontal disease and starts in early childhood. However, severe gingivitis is relatively uncommon in children, although a large population has a mild, reversible type of gingivitis. The major etiologic factors associated with gingivitis and more significantly periodontal diseases are uncalcified and calcified bacterial plaque. The gingival tissues in children are different from those in adults. Due to these differences in the structure between the gingival tissues of the child and the adult, even the clinical features and disease manifestations differ according to the age of an individual. It has been observed in earlier studies that children with a deciduous dentition seem to respond to plaque formation with less gingivitis than adults with a permanent dentition. Thus, in this study, the occurrence of gingivitis in response to plaque was studied and compared in the deciduous, mixed and permanent dentitions.