Periodontal risk assessment in a teaching hospital population in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province

Abstract

Objective With this cross-sectional study, we aimed to evaluate factors associated with moderate and high risk of periodontal disease (PD) progression in the Saudi population. Methods We reviewed 281 patients’ clinical charts from predoctoral periodontal clinics at the dental teaching hospital in the College of Dentistry (COD) at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU) in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. After obtaining ethical approval, we determined the Periodontal Risk Assessment (PRA) of the included patients based on the modified criteria developed by Lang and Tonetti (2003) . We used logistic regression on stratified data and divided the results into two categories (low-moderate and high risk) to assess the effect modifier for potential risk factors. We used SPSS version 22 for data analysis, and considered a P-value ≤ 0.05 to be statistically significant. Results Out of the 281 patients, 104 (37.0%) were male and 177 (63.0%) were female, with a mean age of 39.9 ± 14.0 years; 78.1% were Saudi nationals, 77% were married, and 44.6% were in the age group of 30 to 49. The PRA revealed 86 (30.5%) to represent high risk, 108 (38.3%) denoted moderate risk, and 88 (31.2%) signaled low risk for periodontitis. Logistic regression analysis showed that males were three times more likely to have high PRA (OR = 3.24) and to be married (OR = 2.77), as well as to be active smokers (OR = 8.87). The highest predictive factors of high PRA were 8 or more pockets ≥ 5 mm (OR = 29.0), those with active diabetes mellitus (DM; OR = 10.2), and those with 8 or more missing teeth (OR = 9.15). Conclusion Saudi males who are married and have residual periodontal pockets, are actively diabetic, and with missing teeth are at high risk of PD. Further research is needed with a larger sample size comparing the general population with and without PD.

Prevalence of periodontitis based on retrospective radiographic evaluation at dental hospital in Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia: A retrospective study

“…Major risk factors associated with periodontitis include age, gender, oral hygiene, smoking status, ethnicity, lower socioeconomic status, and systemic diseases ( Nazir, 2017 , Madi et al, 2021 ). The relationships between PD and smoking, cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, and adverse pregnancy outcomes have been reported extensively in the literature ( Albandar, 2002a , Albandar, 2002b , Nazir, 2017 ).…”

Alveolar Bone Loss in Diabetic Patients: A Case–Control Study

“…These findings are consistent with previous research that found males to be more likely to suffer from alveolar bone loss or periodontitis. 14,40 The causes of these gender differences are unknown; however, they may be related to males' poor compliance with oral hygiene practices. 43,44 Our study's limitations were that our sample size was relatively small and the fact that we only studied patients who visited a single dental hospital.…”

“…These findings are consistent with previous research that found males to be more likely to suffer from alveolar bone loss or periodontitis. 14 40 The causes of these gender differences are unknown; however, they may be related to males' poor compliance with oral hygiene practices. 43 44…”

“…The association between DM and periodontitis has been reported in the literature. [12][13][14] DM is linked to alveolar bone loss and is known as a risk factor for PD. 15 A higher clinical attachment loss (CAL), alveolar bone loss, a greater percentage of furcation lesions and tooth mobility are correlated with diabetes.…”

An Overview of Assessment Tools Used in Periodontics

“…All of these risk factors can be changed, but some others, such as age, gender, and ethnicity, cannot. After completing active periodontal therapy, most patients with periodontitis are still at risk of further disease progression or recurrence (3). Disease risk assessment scores integrate several variables with risk scales to provide a synthetic prediction value for every patient as well as a patient-risk stratification at a given follow-up time.…”