Periodontal inflamed surface area as a novel numerical variable describing periodontal conditions

Purpose: Chronic periodontitis is an inflammatory disease induced by pathogenic bacterial accumulation. A novel index, the periodontal inflamed surface area (PISA), represents the sum of the periodontal pocket depth of bleeding on probing (BOP)-positive sites. It is advantageous for data processing and analysis because it can be treated as a continuous variable to quantify periodontal inflammation. In the present study, we evaluated correlations between PISA and periodontal classifications, and examined PISA as an index integrating the discrete conventional periodontal indexes. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional subgroup analysis of data from a prospective cohort study investigating the association between chronic periodontitis and the clinical features of ankylosing spondylitis. Data from 84 patients without systemic diseases (the control group in the previous study) were analyzed in the present study. Results: PISA values were positively correlated with conventional periodontal classifications (Spearman correlation coefficient=0.52; P < 0.01) and with periodontal indexes, such as BOP and the plaque index (PI) (r=0.94; P < 0.01 and r=0.60; P < 0.01, respectively; Pearson correlation test). Porphyromonas gingivalis expression and the presence of serum P. gingivalis antibodies were significant factors affecting PISA values in a simple linear regression analysis, together with periodontal classification, PI, bleeding index, and smoking, but not in the multivariate analysis. In the multivariate linear regression analysis, PISA values were positively correlated with the quantity of current smoking, PI, and severity of periodontal disease. Conclusions: PISA integrates multiple periodontal indexes, such as probing pocket depth, BOP, and PI into a numerical variable. PISA is advantageous for quantifying periodontal inflammation and plaque accumulation.