Rabia Ali, Farhan Raza Khan.
Factors Associated with Exposure and Caries of Root Surface among Sample of Pakistani patients Visiting a University Hospital.
J Pak Dent Assoc Jan ;25(3):81-6.

OBJECTIVES: 1) To determine the frequency of root caries among patients visiting dental clinic of the Aga Khan University Hospital. 2) To determine the association of root caries with gender, xerostomia, smoking, betel nut and sugar intake. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Aga Khan University Hospital. Patients above 30 years of age who visited dental clinics with gum recession or root surface caries with or without root filling were included. Information was gained on age, sex, brushing habits, malocclusion, use of systemic medications, xerostomia etc. Intraoral examination was done on all teeth excluding third molars. The variables of interest were the frequency of root surfaces exposed (RE), root surface carious (RC) and root surface already restored (RR). The unit of analysis for root surface caries was the individual tooth. RESULTS: A total of 4080 root surfaces of 40 subjects (25 males and 15 females) were examined. Mean age was 55.6 years (?11.4 SD). About 805 (19.7%) surfaces were found to be exposed. Around 137 (3.35%) surfaces were carious and only 18 (0.44%) were restored. Eighteen subjects had root caries on less than 2 surfaces; fourteen subjects had root caries on 3-5 surfaces and there were eight subjects with more than 5 carious surfaces. Most common type of gum recession found was Miller's Class III (60%). Xerostomia was observed in 16 (40%) subjects. Diabetes, hypertension and other co-morbids were observed in 17 subjects. Chi square test (or Fisher exact test) was applied to determine association of RE and RC with other variables. The level of significance was kept at 0.05. CONCLUSIONS: The most common gum recession pattern observed in our study was deep and wide (Miller's Class III). One fifth of the subjects had extensive RC (> 5 surfaces). RE was found to be associated with age and use of betel nuts (p< 0.01) while RC was seen more in females and was associated with high sugar intake (p=0.02). KEYWORDS: Root caries, gum recession, root surfaces exposure.

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