Periodontal Diseases in Greek Senior Citizens-Risk Indicators

Abstract

Aim: This study provides data on the periodontal status of Greek adults aged 35–44‐years‐old in relation to socio‐demographic and behavioural parameters and compares these data with those of 1985. Material and methods: A stratified cluster sample was selected according to WHO guidelines for national pathfinder surveys. Periodontal and oral hygiene status were assessed using the CPI index and the OHI‐S index respectively. Socio‐demographic and behavioural data were collected through face‐to‐face interviews. Results: In 2005, 9.5% of the participants had healthy periodontium, 16.2% bleeding on probing, 46.8% calculus, 24.2% shallow pockets and 3.3% deep pockets. Half of the individuals (52.1%) had good oral hygiene status, 39.8% fair and 8.1% poor. Most of them (79%) brushed their teeth at least once a day, but only 25.4% used dental floss. Higher CPI scores were associated with living in rural areas, having a lower educational attainment and brushing and flossing teeth less frequently. Better oral hygiene status was associated with having a higher educational attainment and income, as well as brushing and flossing teeth more frequently. Comparisons with the 1985 findings indicate that severe periodontal diseases may be declining in Greece, whereas gingivitis may be increasing. Conclusions: The prevalence of severe periodontal diseases in Greek adults is not high and their periodontal health has improved since 1985. As long as their oral hygiene status and preventive dental behaviour cannot be considered as satisfactory, there is room for further improvement.

Prevalence, severity, and risk indicators of gingival inflammation in a multi-center study on South American adults: a cross sectional study

“…Therefore, low incomes and low levels of education seem to be variables with good predictability for periodontal diseases 7 . The prevalence of gingival inflammation in females found in the present study contradicts results from Greece, where women have been shown to have better oral hygiene and gingival status than men 22 . Perhaps this difference is more about culture than gender.…”

Plaque‐induced gingivitis: Case definition and diagnostic considerations

“…Although epidemiologic studies indicate consistently that gingival inflammation is a highly prevalent condition, there is heterogeneity in the reported prevalence of gingivitis (Table 1). [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] Even though part of this heterogeneity can be interpreted in the light of real, genuine differences in disease occurrence among studied populations, it is evident that differences among cohorts may well be related to variations in the diagnostic criteria used to define a GC.…”

“…Epidemiological studies have based the GC definition on epidemiological indices (Table 1) [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] such as: the Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Need (CPITN/CPI); average severity of gingival inflammation (as assessed using gingival indices or bleeding scores); average extent of gingival inflammation (assessed as the prevalence of sites with a certain gingival index or bleeding score); combinations of severity and extent measures. The majority of epidemiologic studies investigating the prevalence of periodontal diseases, including gingivitis, are based on the use of CPITN.…”

Is Periodontitis Prevalence Declining? A Review of the Current Literature

“…These criteria were fulfilled by only four studies [10, 11••, 14, 25], raising the validity of these studies as opposed to the other studies. Only partial information on inter-or intra-reliability measures was reported in five studies [9,12,13,15,16], while for the UK Adult Dental Health Survey, calibration data for PPD were not available at all [23,57].…”

“…Only few studies have monitored the trend of periodontal prevalence and severity over the last decades, with four additional epidemiologic studies being published [8][9][10]11••] after the last review [2•]. For this review, five national (England, Germany, New Zealand, USA, and Greece) and five regional [Pomerania (North-East Germany), Thun (Switzerland),´s-Hertogenbosch (The Netherlands), Jönköping (Sweden) and Oslo (Norway)] studies were considered.…”