Abstract
Objectives: The objective of this study consisted in determining the prevalence of gingival recession and potential risk factors associated in a sample of patients that had a dental appointment in the University Clinic of the Portuguese Catholic University in Viseu, Portugal.Methods: We conducted an epidemiological observational cross-sectional study where a sample of 101 patients was assessed. The participants were subjected to a questionnaire and an intra-oral clinical examination was made in order to assess gingival recessions.Results: The prevalence of recession was 85.1%. The presence of habits and a high plaque index are associated with the onset of recessions and its severity. The aesthetic condition was influenced only in 14.0% of the cases and just 17.4% of the patients with gingival recession had tooth hipersensibility. There is a stronger association between the development of recessions and using a brushing technique based mostly on horizontal movements and brushes with harder bristles.Conclusion: Although further studies need to be applied in a more representative sample, we conclude that the majority of the analyzed sample has already suitable oral health behaviors, however, some need to be modified as the understanding of the need to change certain habits to prevent development of recessions.
Highlights
Gingival recession is a clinical condition defined as the attachment loss that results in migration of the free gingival margin of any tooth surface in the apical direction in relation to the cement-enamel junction (CEJ), which is concomitant with root exposure to the oral environment [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
The objective of this study consisted in determining the prevalence of gingival recession and potential risk factors associated in a sample of patients that had a dental appointment in the University Clinic of the Portuguese Catholic University in Viseu (UCP-Viseu), Portugal
There are few studies about this subject in Portugal, and this one is presented as a valuable contribution to the existing global studies because of the importance that the presence of gingival recession can affect the oral health of an individual due to complications that may arise such as tooth hypersensitivity, aesthetic implications, the development of root dental caries, as well as erosion and abrasion of the tooth
Summary
Gingival recession is a clinical condition defined as the attachment loss that results in migration of the free gingival margin of any tooth surface in the apical direction in relation to the cement-enamel junction (CEJ), which is concomitant with root exposure to the oral environment [1,2,3,4,5,6,7].This condition is often seen as having a multifactorial origin being the result of a combination of factors, there are cases, which have no clinical evident ethiology (17%) [8,9,10,11,12,13,14].There is agreement regarding the increased prevalence, extent and severity of gingival recession with age [1,3,4, 6,7,10,11,12].In younger patients recessions that seem to appear are usually located, which suggests the existence of isolated ethiologic factors. Gingival recession is a clinical condition defined as the attachment loss that results in migration of the free gingival margin of any tooth surface in the apical direction in relation to the cement-enamel junction (CEJ), which is concomitant with root exposure to the oral environment [1,2,3,4,5,6,7] This condition is often seen as having a multifactorial origin being the result of a combination of factors, there are cases, which have no clinical evident ethiology (17%) [8,9,10,11,12,13,14]. As for gender, there are studies in which women appear to be the group with the better oral health status and a greater prevalence of recessions, as the studies of Furlan et al and Chrysanthakopoulos et al seem to prove [2,10,11]
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