title: Apical periodontitis and related factors in an adult Lithuanian population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objectives of this investigation were to study determinants of apical periodontitis among Lithuanians who were 35 to 44 years old and to study possible associations between apical periodontitis, relevant general diseases, and perceived general health.
  
  
  METHODS
  Information was collected from a randomly selected sample, consisting of 147 individuals from Vilnius, Lithuania. Aspects of oral and general health, health-related habits and attitudes, and social parameters were used as independent variables, with various aspects of apical periodontitis as the dependent variable. Associations were tested by regression analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Apical periodontitis was highly prevalent in this Lithuanian population. Oral health-related variables showed the strongest association with apical periodontitis. Decayed and filled teeth scores were found to be strongly associated with periapical disease, and sound teeth were strongly associated with periapical health. In addition, behavioral variables were found to be important disease determinants.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Apical periodontitis appeared to be an oral health problem closely related to dental caries. No association could be detected between general diseases and apical periodontitis, but an association between perceived general health and apical periodontitis was demonstrated.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Dentistry, University of Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aleksejuniene
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Eriksen
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sidaravicius
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haapasalo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008097:Lithuania / Q000453:epidemiology; D010485:Periapical Periodontitis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D010512:Periodontal Index; D015995:Prevalence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012649:Self Concept; D012647:Self-Assessment