Prognosis and actual treatment outcome of periodontally involved teeth

The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent a given long-term prognosis of a periodontally involved tooth is in agreement with the actual outcome after periodontal therapy. Five hundred and eighty teeth in 24 subjects diagnosed with adult periodontitis and treated 5-13 years ago were evaluated. Subject's age, gender, race, plaque index, gingival index, missing teeth, tooth mobility, probing depth, presence of furcation, alveolar bone level, and frequency of supportive periodontal therapy were recorded. A prognosis was then determined for each tooth and compared to the initial prognosis using the same measures retrieved from the subject's record. Results of the study suggest that (1) it is less common to project accurately the progress of individual teeth when a prognosis is other than good; and (2) it is more difficult to predict correctly the outcome of multirooted teeth than single-rooted ones.