Periodontal Disease in Lao Pdr

The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of periodontal diseases in Savannakhet Province, Lao PDR. This survey was conducted 14 years after the country reformed its economic structure towards the free market. Thirty villages were picked by simple random sampling from a total of 1,560 villages. Two thousand four hundred and fifty-three individuals, aged twelve and over, were interviewed about oral hygiene practice, and were examined for periodontal health status using the community periodontal index of treatment needs (CPITN) index. Forty percent of the sample had regular practices, 56.5% occasional practices and 3.5% were ignorant about oral hygiene. Oral hygiene practices were performed in the morning by using a toothbrush (61.1%) and the index finger (24.8%). The cleaning agent was water alone for 68.6% and salt powder for 28%. The prevalence of healthy gingiva was nearly zero in all age groups. Gingival bleeding was very low. The most common periodontal problem was calculus deposits, found in 3-5 sextants of all age groups. The pocket depth was 4-5 mm on average; however a depth of more than 6 mm was not observed. Correspondence: Dr Somsak Chuckpaiwong, Department of Hospital Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Mahidol University, Yothi Street, Bangkok 10400, Thailand. SOUTHEAST ASIAN J TROP MED PUBLIC HEALTH Vol 31 No. 4 December 2000 776 Oral hygiene practices usually occurred in the morning (94.2%); 3.2% practised their oral hygiene depending on the occasion. The rest practised at bathtime or bedtime as shown in Table 3. Use of toothbrushes, either commercial or traditional sticks, was 61.1%. The index finger was used by 34.8% and 1.3% never cleaned their teeth. About 1.5% rinsed with water only (Table 4). Table 5 shows cleaning agents: water was commonly chosen (68.6%) followed by salt powder (28%). Others, such as sand grains, charcoal powder or fruit husks were used by less than 2% of the population. Only 0.27% of the 12-18 year-old age group Table1 The percentage of sampled population distributed by age and sex. Age Male Female Total (years) No. % male % total No. % female % total No. % 12-18 355 31.6 14.5 360 27.1% 14.7 715 29.1 19-27 162 14.4 6.6 233 17.5 9.5 395 16.1 28-34 108 9.6 4.4 157 11.8 6.4 265 10.8 35-44 177 15.8 7.2 243 18.3 9.9 420 7.1 45-54 149 13.3 6.1 156 11.7 6.4 305 12.4 55-64 90 8.0 3.7 107 8.0 4.4 197 8.0 65-74 60 5.3 2.4 56 4.2 2.3 116 4.7 75-99 22 2.0 0.9 18 1.4 0.7 40 1.6 Total 1,123 100.00 45.8 1,330 100.00 54.2 2,453 100.00 Table 2 Regularity of oral hygiene practices. Regularly Occasionally Ignorant Total Male 455 (18.6%) 612 (25.4%) 44 (1.8%) 1,120 (45.8%) Female 522 (21.4%) 760 (31.1%) 42 (1.7%) 1,324 (54.2%) Total 977 (40.0%) 1,381 (56.5%) 86 (3.5%) 2,446 (100%) Table 3 The convenient time chosen for oral cleaning. Morning By chance Other Male 42.8% 1.6% 1.1% Female 51.4% 1.6% 1.4% Total 94.2% 3.2% 2.5% had healthy periodontal status; 0.1% had bleeding gums and 99.21% calculus deposits. 0.42% had 4-6 mm-deep pockets. Pockets deeper than 6 mm were not observed. In the 19-27 year-old age group only 0.51% had healthy gingiva, 0.25% had bleeding gums, 0.51% had shallow pockets and 0.25% had deep pockets. Calculus deposit was the major problem in this age group (98.49%). Everybody in the >27 year age group had periodontal problems. Periodontal pockets and calculus deposit increased with age. As for the younger age groups, these were the major problems (Table 6). The mean number of sextants of periodontal status are shown in Table 7. In this group, healthy gingival tissue had lower sextant involvement than the group with calculus deposits. Periodontal pockets were found in increasing numbers as age increased. About 0.5% had pockets at an early age, suggesting early onset of periodontitis.