Gingival labial recessions in orthodontically treated and untreated individuals: a case – control study Renkema AM, Fudalej PS, Renkema AAP, Abbas F, Bronkhorst E, Katsaros C. Gingival labial recessions in orthodontically treated and untreated individuals – a pilot case–control study. J Clin Periodontol 2013; 40: 631–637. doi: 10.1111/ jcpe.12105. Abstract Objectives: To evaluate the long-term development of labial gingival recessions during orthodontic treatment and retention phase. Material and Methods: In this retrospective case–control study, the presence of gingival recession was scored (Yes or No) on plaster models of 100 orthodontic patients (cases) and 120 controls at the age of 12 (T 12 ), 15 (T 15 ), 18 (T 18 ), and 21 (T 21 ) years. In the treated group, T 12 reflected the start of orthodontic treatment and T 15 – the end of active treatment and the start of retention phase with bonded retainers. Independent t-tests, Fisher’s exact tests and a fitted two-part “hurdle” model were used to identify the effect of orthodontic treatment/retention on recessions. Results: The proportion of subjects with recessions was consistently higher in cases than controls. Overall, the odds ratio for orthodontic patients as compared with controls to have recessions is 4.48 (p < 0.001; 95% CI: 2.61–7.70). Conclusions: Within the limits of the present research design, orthodontic treat- ment and/or the retention phase may be risk factors for the development of labial gingival recessions. In orthodontically treated subjects, mandibular incisors seem to be the most vulnerable to the development of gingival recessions. Anne Marie Renkema 1 , Piotr S. Fudalej 1,2,3 , Alianne A. P. Renkema 4 , Frank Abbas 5 , Ewald Bronkhorst 6 and Christos Katsaros 7 1 Department of Orthodontics and Craniofacial Biology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; 2 Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; 3 Department of Orthodontics, Palacky ´ University Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic; 4 Department of Orthodontics, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands; 5 Center for Dentistry and Oral Hygiene, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands; 6 Department of Community and Restorative Dentistry, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; 7 Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland Key words: aetiology; gingival recession; orthodontics; periodontal disease Accepted for publication 3 March 2013 A gingival recession is characterized by the displacement of the marginal tissue apical to the cemento-enamel junction with exposure of the root surface (Wennstr€ om et al. 2008). Localized gingival recession and ensuing root exposure may represent an aesthetic problem to the patient, and it is often related to root sensi- tivity (Chambrone & Chambrone 2006, Chambrone et al. 2010). The occurrence of gingival reces- sions is age-dependent and their development begins relatively early in life (L€ oe et al. 1992, Susin et al. 2004, Sarfati et al. 2010, Matas et al. 2011). For example, gingival reces- sions were noticed in more than 60% of Norwegian 20-year-olds and in more than 90% of the older pop- ulation (above 50 years) (L€ oe et al. 1992). Similar trends were found in Brazil (Susin et al. 2004) and France (Sarfati et al. 2010). In populations deprived of dental care, the occur- rence of gingival recessions was even higher (L€ oe et al. 1992). Although the aetiology of gingi- val recessions remains unclear, sev- eral predisposing factors have been suggested. A high proportion of individuals with gingival recessions in populations with high standards Conflict of interest and source of funding statement The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests. No external fund- ing, apart from the support of the authors’ institution, was available for this study. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd 631 J Clin Periodontol 2013; 40: 631–637 doi: 10.1111/jcpe.12105