An Odontological Study on Down's Syndrome

Part 2: Crowding and Gingivitis

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between gingivitis and the local etiologic factors in children with Down's syndrome. The subjects consist of 46 children with Down's syndrome aged 13 to 60 months (30 boys and 16 girls) and 16 healthy control children aged 9 to 24 months (9 boys and 7 girls).
Both group of the subjects had deciduous dentition. The plaque index (PHP modified), the prevalence of gingivitis (PM index) and the crowding score (using the Matsumoto method,1980) were calculated based on the data obtained from the subjects. With respect to the three parameters mentioned above, the following were examined.1) The comparison of the children with Down's syndrome to the control children.2) The chronological change of the children with Down's syndrome.3) The correlation among them on the children with Down's syndrome. The following results were obtained.
1) The PM index in the children with Down's syndrome is about 4 times that of the control children.
2) The crowding score in the children with Down's syndrome is double that of the control children.
3) The PM index becomes higher with the increase in age of the subjects. On the other hand, the crowding score becomes less with the increase in age.
4) No relationship between the PM index and the crowding score was found, nor between the crowding score and the plaque index.
5) No significant correlation was found between the PM index and the plaque index.
These results show that the plaque index and the crowding score as local factors have less relevance to gingivitis in the deciduous dentition in the children with Down's syndrome. Therefore, further investigation is necessary concerning other local factors and the systematic factors.