Dental News - Ethnicity has a bearing on periodontitis treatment response according to University of Texas study

Anisha Hall Hoppe, Dental Tribune International

Thu. 22 June 2023

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HOUSTON, US: According to a 2022 study, periodontitis occurs at a significantly higher rate among Hispanics (64%) and non-Hispanic Blacks (59%) than non-Hispanic whites (41%). In a more recent pilot study, researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston have sought to determine whether ethnic/racial groups respond differently to non-surgical periodontal treatment and whether the treatment outcomes correlate to bacterial distribution pretreatment. Their results indicated that elevated levels of Porphyromonas gingivalis and ethnic/racial background may affect periodontal treatment adversely.

The 75 patients in the study had Stage II or III generalised periodontitis and self-reported their ethnicity/race as non-Hispanic Caucasian American, non-Hispanic African American or Hispanic American. There were no statistical differences in sex, age or pre-existing number of teeth prior to treatment, nor statistical differences in clinical attachment level (CAL) or probing depth (PD) at baseline.

However, after scaling and root planing, there was a statistically significant gain in CAL in non-Hispanic Caucasian American patients compared with Hispanic American patients. No difference was noted between non-Hispanic Caucasian American and non-Hispanic African American patients or between non-Hispanic African American and Hispanic American patients. There were no statistical differences between any of the groups in PD measurement after initial periodontitis treatment. All three groups showed a statistically significant reduction in both PD and CAL at the six-week evaluation compared with baseline.

Regarding the measured levels of bacterial species primarily associated with periodontitis, Hispanic American patients had the highest numbers of both Streptococcus cristatus and P. gingivalis. P. gingivalis was present in greater amounts than S. cristatus in non-Hispanic African American patients compared with non-Hispanic Caucasian American patients. Statistically significant differences were found between the three groups only for P. gingivalis.

The 2022 study cited earlier also reports a documented association between periodontitis and a number of co-morbid conditions connected to racial/ethnic inequalities in care. The researchers in that study pointed to the disproportionate levels of access to adequate oral healthcare for racial/ethnic minorities in the US as a factor in differing periodontitis prevalence. They also pointed to increasing scientific work demonstrating irrefutable genetic variation within existing race designations as a valid reason not to use “race” as a reliable scientific parameter, though the concept is useful for identifying disparities between groups across a broad range of factors.

The study titled, “Influences of race/ethnicity in periodontal treatment response and bacterial distribution, a cohort pilot study”, was published on 12 June 2023 in Frontiers in Oral Health.