title: Public health aspects of periodontal diseases in Europe.
abstract: There is relatively little severe periodontal disease in populations in Europe. The public health significance is therefore debateable. The fact that the costs of treating the disease are high because of the organization of dental care, qualifies it as a dental public problem. In addition, the symptoms of periodontal diseases such as bleeding, halitosis, gingival recession and tooth loss have an impact on many people, and we have sufficient information to control the common forms of the disease. The goals for dental health can be expressed in terms of health, disease, health education and health promotion and training. A reasonable objective is to achieve a rate of loss of attachment compatible with maintaining at least upper and lower shortened arches for a lifetime. 4 strategies are considered: a high risk, a population, a secondary prevention strategy or a combination of the three. A combination of the 3 is needed to achieve the objective of maintaining a functional, aesthetically and socially acceptable natural dentition for the lifespan of most people. The balance of effort should be heavily weighted towards the population strategy. If the strategy is adopted, the need for treatment will be reduced and treatment will be more successful.
authors.affiliation: Joint Department of Community Dental Health and Dental Practice, University College London, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sheiham
mesh_terms: D005060:Europe; D006267:Health Education, Dental; D006801:Humans; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011634:Public Health