Evaluation of Pathological Tooth Migration in Periodontal Disease: A Clinical and Radiographic Study

Background: The position of the dental arch depends on the health and height of the periodontium and on the forces exerted upon the tooth mainly occlusion and pressure from oral musculatures. The alteration among any of these factors initiates a sequence of interrelated changes in the environment of a single tooth or a group of teeth which ultimately results in pathologic migration. Periodontal bone loss is one of the major factors responsible for Pathological Tooth Migration (PTM). Aims and Objectives: The present study aimed at evaluating the periodontal conditions of teeth in patients presenting with pathologic migration caused by periodontal diseases in maxillary anterior sextant. Materials and Methods: The patients were selected from OPD of department of Periodontology. Clinical parameter, radiologic parameter, and orthodontic parameter of 150 subjects with periodontitis presenting pathologic migration in anterior teeth in maxillary anterior sextant were recorded. Periodontal destruction was calculated in migrated vs non-migrated teeth. Mann-Whitney test and Krusal-Wallis test was used for statistical analysis. Results: It was observed that the prevalence of pathological migration was highest in central incisors and distolabial migration was the most frequent type of migration. Also, the mean bone loss percentage was 45.65% in migrated teeth and 16.94% in non-migrated teeth. Conclusion: Teeth presenting with pathologic migration have greater mean bone loss, clinical attachment loss as compared to non-migrated teeth with central incisors being the most frequently migrated anterior teeth as compared to lateral incisors and canines and distolabial migration the most common type of migration as compared to extrusion, rotation, labial migration and mesiolabial migration.