Relationship between malalignment of the teeth and periodontal disease

Abstract

– The occurrence and degree of displacement and rotation was recorded in the 4,316 fully erupted teeth of 154 Army recruits aged 19–22 years. Of the different teeth, it was the maxillary laterals and the mandibular second premolars which were most often found to be malaligned. In the maxillary anterior tooth areas, which had been fairly well brushed by the subjects, both the degree of oral cleanliness and the extent of periodontal disease were worse around the malaligned than around the aligned teeth. In the premolar areas the difference was less marked and it became non‐existent in the molar regions. The results indicated that malalignment of the teeth, as such, does not enhance periodontal breakdown but that it decreases the effect of average oral hygiene measures. Exceptionally good oral hygiene measures or, on the other hand, no oral hygiene measures at all, are thus less likely to reveal an association between malalignment and periodontal disease.