Gingival recession and its association with calculus in subjects deprived of prophylactic dental care

This paper describes the prevalence and severity of gingival recession in Tanzanian adults covering the age range from 20 to 64 years. In addition, it attempts to assess the relationship between the degree of gingival recession and the presence and amount of calculus. In the 20-34 years age group recession occurred in > or = 32% of the buccal, > or = 25% of the lingual, and > or = 13% of the approximal surfaces. These %s increased to > or = 64%, > or = 52%, and > or = 48%, respectively, in the 45-64 years age group. In the 20-34 years age group, lingual surfaces of mandibular incisors and canines followed by buccal surfaces of these teeth were the sites most severely affected with gingival recession. With increasing age, all sites became gradually more severely affected, particularly the buccal and lingual surfaces of the maxillary first molar. The lingual surfaces of mandibular incisors exhibited on an average 1.3 mm, 2.4 mm and 3.2 mm recession in the 20-34 years, 35-44 years and 45-64 years age group, respectively. Most of the correlation coefficients between gingival recession and calculus at the individual tooth surface in three age groups were statistically significant. The highest correlation coefficients (0.50-0.67) were found in the youngest (20-34 years) age group at the lingual surfaces of the mandibular incisors, canine and first premolar and at the buccal surfaces of the mandibular incisors. Based on these findings, the working hypothesis is advanced that longstanding calculus is an important determinant in the onset of gingival recession at sites exhibiting pronounced recession at a young age in populations deprived of prophylactic dental care.