Epidemiology of periodontal diseases: Difference between revisions

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'''Epidemiology of periodontal disease''' is the study of patterns, causes, and effects of periodontal diseases. Periodontal disease is a disease affecting the tissue surrounding the teeth. This causes the gums and the teeth to separate making spaces that become infected. The immune system tries to fight the toxins breaking down the bone and tissue connecting to the teeth to the gums. The teeth will have to be removed. This is an advance stage of gum disease that has multiple definitions. Adult periodontitis affects less than 10 to 15% of the population in industrialized countries, mainly adults around the ages of 50 to 60. The disease is now declining world-wide.

 

Many studies look at the prevalence of “advanced [[periodontitis]]”, but have differing definitions of this term. Generally though, severe forms of periodontitis do not seem to affect more than 15% of the population of [[Industrialization|industrialized]] countries. The proportion of such subjects increases with age and seems to peak between 50 and 60 years. A later decline in prevalence may be due to [[tooth loss]].

 

Baelum 1996 recalculated their previous data from [[Kenya]]n and [[China|Chinese]] populations to conform to the methods of examination and data presentation utilized in six other surveys. They did not find that the data supported the traditional [[generalization]] that prevalence and severity of periodontitis is markedly increased in African and Asian populations.{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}

 

Like measurements of prevalence of periodontitis, the measurement of incidence will vary depending upon the case definition of the disease. Often “incidence” refers to new sites that meet the definition of periodontitis, even if they occur within a person that already has other diseased sites.{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}

 

Gilbert 2005 describes a prospective study of persons in [[Florida]] > 45 years old. In-person interviews and examinations were conducted at baseline and 48 months. The study size was 560 persons and at the 48-month examination, 22% of persons and 1.8% of teeth had attachment loss incidence.{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}

 

Albandar 2002 examined 690 school attendees aged 12–25 years. They found that 2.3% had generalized EOP and 4.2% had localized EOP. This total of 6.5% contrasted with 1.8% for [[Nigeria]], 3.1–3.7% for Brazil, 6.8% in [[India]] and 8% in [[Sudan]]. The prevalence in [[Caucasian race|Caucasian]] populations is in the 0.1% to 0.2% range and may indicate that subjects originating from the sub-Saharan countries of Africa may be at higher risk of developing EOP.{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}

 

 

Lopez 2001 examined 9,162 high school children for clinical attachment loss in 6 sites of first and second [[molar (tooth)|molars]] and [[incisor]]s. Overall, CAL >1mm was seen in 69.2% of the students; >2mm in 16% of the students and >3mm in 4.5%. They noted that while the distribution of CAL was markedly skewed, it followed a continuum of [[disease severity]]. No sharp distinction exists between periodontal health and disease among [[Chile]]an adolescents.{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}

Levin 2006 studied 642 young [[Israel]]i army recruits (562 men and 80 women) – clinical periodontal examination of four first molars and eight incisors and [[radiograph]]s were completed. Aggressive periodontitis was found in 5.9% of the subjects (4.3% localized and 1.6% generalized). This was significantly associated with current [[smoking]] and ethnic origin (North African).{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}

 

 

==Tooth loss==

==Further reading==

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