Possible Association Between the Mallampati Score of the Oropharynx and Measures of Tongue Coating, Oral Hygiene and Periodontal Status

Purpose: To assess oral hygiene and the gingival and periodontal disease status in subjects scored under the modified Mallampati classification (MMC) of the oropharynx. Patients and Methods: The clinical parameters included recording MMC scores, simplified oral hygiene index (OHI-S), modified gingival index (MGI), tongue coating index (TCI) and periodontal status of the subjects. Eight additional parameters, which included percentage of sites with bleeding on probing (BOP), sites with probing depth (PD) ≥ 5 mm, tooth loss, attachment loss (AL):age ratio, diabetic status, smoking, the interplay of dental status and systemic factors (DS-SFI), and background characteristics (socioeconomic status and stress) were also assessed. Results: Class IV MMC group showed the highest mean scores for OHI-S, periodontal status, AL:age ratio, diabetic status, background characteristics, PD ≥ 5 mm and DS-SFI when compared to other groups. In measures of OHI-S, periodontal status, PD > 5 mm, AL:age ratio and background characteristics, Class IV MMC group showed significant intergroup differences over MMC class I. Regression analysis revealed a highly significant but low degree of correlation (R2 = 0.079; p ≤ 0.001) between the predictors and the dependent values. Conclusion: The results suggest that increasing MMC scores can be a possible determinant in identifying gingival and periodontal disease. Any dental professional dealing with a multifactorial disease such as periodontitis can use this classification as a basic screening tool in identifying the modifiable factors of periodontitis. Keywords: Mallampati score, oral hygiene, oropharynx, periodontitis