Prevalence and severity of periodontal disease among Spanish military personnel

Abstract

IntroductionPeriodontal disease ranges from simple gums inflammation to major damage to the periodontal tissues, even losing teeth. Severe periodontitis has a world overall prevalence of 11.2%. These are evaluated with periodontal probes and oral epidemiological indices. Our aim is to estimate the prevalence and severity of periodontal disease of a Spanish military population according to the 2013 WHO criteria.MethodsObservational study of prevalence carried out in a representative random sample of 221 military staff from the Spanish Army base ‘Conde de Gazola’. Prevalence was estimated by calculating the Community Periodontal Index modified, loss of attachment, Plaque Index and Gingival Bleeding Index measured with a third-generation electronic ‘Pa-on’ periodontal probe.ResultsAverages of probing depth, recession and clinical attachment level were 2.17, 0.19 and 2.36 mm. Plaque and gingival bleeding indices were 71% and 40.3%. All subjects bled in some tooth after probing. 3.6% of subjects had no periodontal pockets, 58.8% mild periodontal pockets and 37.1% severe periodontal pockets. All had some loss of attachment, 52% mild loss of attachment and 47.5% severe loss of attachment. Teeth present with and without bleeding were 24.4 (86.5%) and 3.6 (13.1%). 28% of teeth had periodontal pockets and 40.4% loss of attachment. Sextant averages with periodontal pockets and loss of attachment were 2.79 and 3.56.ConclusionsOur plaque and gingival bleeding indices were high and we found a higher prevalence and severity of periodontal disease than other Spanish and foreign military populations. This could be related to differences in context, life habits and insufficient dental hygiene.

Epidemiological methods used in the periodontal health research in military personnel: a systematic review

“…After reviewing the abstracts, and full papers where necessary, 88 studies were found that met the required inclusion criteria to be incorporated into the systematic review. 2 7–93 Figure 1 represents PRISMA flow diagram and Table 1 summarises the studies in which the authors provided relevant information regarding the epidemiological design, sample, person variables, indexes used and diagnostic procedures.…”

“…As a determining factor for the comparability of the results, certain characteristics of the type of epidemiological design used in the studies have been mentioned, 65 including those related to the procedures and implementation of the study 17 33 71 88 90 and/or methods applied 44 54 64 72 92 that establish the existence of periodontal disease. 2 51 69 …”

“…In military groups, gingival-periodontal pathologies are one of the main causes of oral morbidity after dental caries, both in their own countries and in deployments abroad. [2][3][4] At this second geographical context, having good periodontal health in the operational areas is essential, as periodontal conditions may result in temporary discharge from duty, compromising the operability of military units. An example of this situation has been the necrotising periodontal disease 5 identified during the First World War as 'trench mouth or Vincent's stomatitis', which originated, among other factors, because of the stress to which the military personnel were subjected, which altered their immune response and predisposed them to this disease.…”

Bactericidal Activity of Silver Nanoparticles on Oral Biofilms Related to Patients with and without Periodontal Disease

“…Periodontal diseases (PD) are alterations that affect the supportive apparatus surrounding teeth, including gingival tissue, alveolar bone, periodontal ligament and cementum [ 1 , 2 ]. The PD involves inflammatory reactions induced basically by bacteria included in an oral biofilm in the periodontium [ 3 , 4 ], which is still a severe oral problem globally [ 3 , 5 ]. The initial stage of PD is called gingivitis, which is identified as an inflammation of the gingiva by the accumulation of bacteria or debris in a biofilm, which is a reactive and reversible condition [ 1 , 2 ].…”

Estimation of the Periodontal Inflamed Surface Area by Simple Oral Examination

“…Several periodontal indexes have been proposed and used for clinical or epidemiological assessments. The indexes used in epidemiological studies include the commonality periodontal index (CPI) [1][2][3], clinical attachment level (CAL) [4,5], and bleeding on probing (BOP) [6], while other studies used combinations of indexes, such as CPI, CAL, BOP, and probing pocket depth (PD) [7], CAL, PD, gingival index (GI), and plaque index (PlI) [8], CAL, PD, and GI [9], and CAL and BOP [10]. For clinical assessments, PD, CAL, and BOP have been commonly used for evaluation of diagnoses or therapeutic effects.…”