Periodontal disease in adults with untreated congenital growth hormone deficiency: A case-control study

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the possible associations between isolated growth hormone deficiency (IGHD) and periodontal attachment loss (PAL) in adults affected by congenital IGHD. Materials and methods: Forty-five previously identified IGHD subjects were eligible for this study. The final study sample comprised 32 cases (gender:20M/12F; age:44.8 ± 17.5) matched for age, gender, diabetes, smoking status and income to 32 controls (non-IGHD subjects). Participants were submitted to a full-mouth clinical examination of six sites per tooth and were interviewed using a structured, written questionnaire. Periodontitis was defined as proximal PAL5 mm affecting 30% of teeth. Results: No significant differences were observed in the percentage of sites with visible plaque between IGHD and non-IGHD subjects (59.4%versus 46.9%, p=0.32). IGHD subjects had significant less supragingival calculus (31.3%versus 59.4%, p=0.02) and more bleeding on probing (71.9%versus 18.8%, p<0.01) than controls. PAL5 mm was significantly more prevalent (100%versus 71.9%, p<0.01) and affected more teeth (30.5%versus 6.7%, p<0.01) in cases than in controls. After adjusting for supragingival calculus, IGHD cases had a higher likelihood of having periodontitis than controls (OR=17.4-17.8, 95% CI=2.3-134.9, p=0.004-0.005). Conclusion: Congenital IGHD subjects have a greater chance of having PAL.