Active Matrix Metalloproteinase-8 Chair Side Mouth Rinse Test, Health Behaviour and Oral Health in Finnish Adolescent Cohort

Abstract

Introduction: Even adolescents have early signs of periodontitis, an infectious inflammatory disease. Young patients at risk must be identified for the preventive interventions and treatment at enough early. Aim: To find out whether participants at risk for subclinical periodontitis could be identified using an active Matrix Metalloproteinase-8 (aMMP-8) chairside mouth rinse test, and to study if health behaviour and oral health are linked to the test result in Finnish adolescents. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out at the Hämeenlinna Health Center in South Finland in 2017-2018. Altogether 125 participants gave their consent to the study. Adolescents (14-15-year-old) were randomly divided into the control group (n=55) and the test group (n=70). All participants of oral health was examined, and they filled a questionnaire. The aMMP-8 chairside mouth rinse test was performed for the test group. Test positives were followed four monthly for a year. Data analysis was performed by IBM SPSS Statistics Version 25 by different statistical tests, including the Mann Whitney U test, the Friedman’s test, the Dunn-Bonferroni test and the Wilcoxon test. Results: Visible Plaque Index Percentage (VPI%) was significantly higher in test positives (p=0.005). Bleeding On Probing Percentage (BOP%) reached almost statistically significant difference (p=0.052). Periodontal treatment intervention decreased aMMP-8 levels assessed by a change in the test stick result from positive (+) to negative (-) during follow-up time. Conclusion: The aMMP-8 chairside mouth rinse test identified and alarmed adolescents with poor oral hygiene at risk for subclinical periodontitis without detectable and visible manifestations of the illness, such as deepened periodontal pockets. The aMMP-8 test is fast, inexpensive, predictive, easy to use and follow the effectiveness of intervention of subclinical periodontitis.

Keywords

• mouth washes
• periodontal diseases
• proteolytic enzymes
• teenagers