A 3-year community-based periodontal disease prevention programme for adults in a developing nation.
A field trail of a community programme for improving periodontal health of adults was carried out in a geographically remote, unsophisticated rural population in the South Pacific islands of Tonga. The 3-year project (1986-89) involved three village communities, each with a population of approximately 1200. Village N received supplies of toothbrushes and toothpaste without charge, health education (videos, talks, posters) and periodic dental scaling (ultrasonic). Village K received the same as N except that dental scaling was not provided. Village E received none of the services provided to the villages N and K. Baseline and final examinations of 20-44-year olds showed that unsupervised self-care promoted at the community level, when supplemented with periodic removal of subgingival calculus, significantly improved periodontal health. Improvement was age dependent.
Cutress
T W
TW
Medical Research Council of New Zealand, Wellington.
Powell
R N
RN
Kilisimasi
S
S
Tomiki
S
S
Holborow
D
D
D000328:Adult; D003728:Dental Calculus / Q000517:prevention & control; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000517:prevention & control; D012534:Dental Scaling; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D005884:Gingival Hemorrhage / Q000517:prevention & control; D006267:Health Education, Dental; D006293:Health Promotion; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010512:Periodontal Index; D010514:Periodontal Pocket / Q000517:prevention & control; D012648:Self Care; D014058:Tonga; D014099:Toothbrushing; D014100:Toothpastes
D014100:Toothpastes