Alveolar bone loss due to open interproximal contacts in periodontal disease

Ninety patient records were examined in order to determine radiographically whether an association between open interproximal contacts and increased alveolar bone loss exists. The amount of alveolar bone in the open contact site was compared to the amount of alveolar bone in the contralateral closed contact site. Open interproximal contacts were not found to be associated with increased alveolar bone destruction in Class, I, III and IV periodontal disease groups. In group of 53 Class II cases, open contacts were found to be associated with an average of 2.4% less relative bone height than contralateral closed contacts. This difference was significant at the 0.01 to 0.02 level.