A longitudinal study of dental health in a group of Swedish teenagers/young adults from the age of 14 to 25.
87 participants were followed from the ages of 14 to 25. Data concerning dental caries, gingival status, pocket depth, subgingival calculus, loss of attachment, and regularity of dental care were recorded. During the 11-yr-study-period 16% of the participants did not develop any carious lesions at all, and the average increase in DMFS-value was 0.6 per year. At age 25, about 75% of the subjects had never experienced any manifest carious lesions in incisors or cuspids or on any buccal and lingual surfaces, and 30% had never needed any proximal restorations. Over the study period, gingival inflammation changed from being merely a result of poor oral hygiene to being an indication of initial periodontal disease, and at age 25, 11% showed evidence of loss of marginal bone. The Dental Health was better in females than in males. In general, this sex differences increased in age, and at the age of 19 it had become clinically significant. The good habit of regular dental care reinforced during these 19 years of life was continued by 91% at 25, and no difference could be seen between the care rendered by the Public Dental Health Care system and by Private General Practitioners.
Crossner
C G
CG
Department of Dentistry, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Unell
L
L
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D016301:Alveolar Bone Loss / Q000453:epidemiology; D004245:DMF Index; D003728:Dental Calculus / Q000453:epidemiology; D003729:Dental Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005792:General Practice, Dental / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005882:Gingival Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D005891:Gingivitis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D017622:Periodontal Attachment Loss / Q000453:epidemiology; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010514:Periodontal Pocket / Q000453:epidemiology; D011331:Private Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011636:Public Health Dentistry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012737:Sex Factors; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D014076:Tooth Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*