Occurrence of vertical bone defects in dentally aware individuals

A vertical (angular) defect is a radiographic diagnostic phenomenon of severe periodontal destruction. The objective of the present study was to investigate the prevalence and severity of vertical defects in a population of dentally aware individuals at 2 different points in time, 1982 and 1992. Intra-oral radiographs of 251 individuals in 1982 and 247 individuals in 1992 in the age range 21-70 years were assessed with regard to presence or absence of vertical defects adjacent to a maximum of 28 teeth per person. A vertical bone defect was defined as a one-sided bone resorption of the interdental marginal bone greater than or equal to2 mm that had a typical angulation towards either the mesial or distal aspect of the root. The prevalence of vertical defects in 1982 was 38% increasing from 11% in age 21-30 years to 64% in age 51-70 years, and 27% in 1992 increasing from 7% to 47% in the same age groups, respectively. The number of defects per person increased with age. The majority of affected individuals had 1-2 defects and only about 5% were severely affected. Vertical defects were more common in the posterior as compared to the anterior region of the dentition and the distribution of defects within the maxilla as well as the mandible typically revealed a right-hand to left-hand side symmetry. Vertical defects seem to be a rare phenomenon in dentally aware individuals. In particular, multiple defects were observed only in a minor proportion. Both prevalence and severity increased with age.