The clinical course of chronic periodontitis: V. Predictive factors in periodontal disease.

Background: The factors associated with initial periodontitis are not well understood and cannot be identified by cross-sectional studies.

Aim: To identify the factors associated with the initiation of chronic periodontitis using ante-dependence modelling.

Material And Methods: A 26-year longitudinal study of the natural history of periodontitis served as the basis for the study.