Morphological study of proximal root grooves and their influence on periodontal attachment loss

BACKGROUND: The etiology of periodontal diseases is multifactorial including both systemic and local causes. Local factors such as grooves on root surfaces contribute a great deal to the causation of periodontal diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Proximal radicular grooves were studied in 150 extracted maxillary and mandibular anterior teeth. Periodontal attachment loss was measured after staining the root surfaces with 0.1% toluidine blue stain. The relationship of the presence and absence of grooves with periodontal attachment loss was also studied. RESULTS: The prevalence of proximal root grooves was found to be 86.67%. The prevalence of grooves on maxillary teeth was 43.42% and on mandibular teeth was 56.67%. A greater loss of attachment was present on grooved surfaces than on nongrooved surfaces. CONCLUSION: The proximal radicular grooves present as one of the major etiological factors in periodontal diseases.