Periodontal bone loss in 15-year-old Norwegians

The prevalence of marginal bone loss was determined on bite-wing radiographs in 2,409 15-year-old schoolchildren living in the country of Buskerud, Norway. Radiographs were collected from all dentists in the area participating in the Public Dental Service. A distance exceeding 2 mm from the cementoenamel junction to the alveolar crest was recorded as bone loss. Bone loss around one or more teeth was found in 11.3% of the subjects. More males than females were affected, with prevalences of 13.7 and 9.0%, respectively. Most of the lesions were observed adjacent to the maxillary first molars. Overt infrabony pockets were found in only a very few cases (0.5%). A clinical examination of 31 of the subjects could not distinguish those with and those without bone loss. The present study has demonstrated that alveolar bone loss is a common finding in 15-year-old school children. It is concluded that bite-wing roentgenograms may be useful in the detection of early bone lesions in young individuals.