title: The change of periodontal treatment needs in a population of Ljubljana, Slovenia, over a ten year period.
abstract: A follow-up study was performed to assess the change of periodontal treatment needs in the adult population of Ljubljana, Slovenia, over a ten year period. In the initial survey, conducted from 1983-1987, 1,609 dentate subjects in the range from 15-65 years of age were clinically examined. Ten years later of the 1,609 invited subjects a total 555 (34.5%) came to the oral re-examination. During the intervening period 3.1% of them had become edentulous. Periodontal treatment needs in both surveys were assessed by the Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs methodology. At the initial examination 2.4% of 1,609 subjects were found to be without any signs of periodontal disease, 97.6% needed oral hygiene instruction, 77.71% needed scaling and 20.3% of them needed complex periodontal treatment. Ten years later, of the 538 dentate subjects aged 25-75 years, only 0.7% of presented with healthy periodontal tissues, 99.3% needed oral hygiene instruction, 93.9% needed scaling and 27.3% needed periodontal surgery. In both surveys advanced periodontal disease in the Ljubljana population was limited to 6.0% and 8.3% of all sextants respectively. After evaluation of the population of the same age in both surveys (25-65-year-old groups) a slight decrease in subjects with healthy periodontal tissues (1.21% vs. 0.84%) was observed. In comparison, there was an increase of subjects with shallow pockets (24.8% vs. 31.1%) and a slight decrease of subjects with deep periodontal pockets (27.7% vs. 24.1%). Comparing the results we concluded that the prevalence and severity of periodontal disease in the Ljubljana population remained similar in both surveys. The findings of the present follow-up study suggest a need for more efficient primary and secondary preventive measures in order to decrease the prevalence and severity of periodontal disease in Ljubljana and Slovenia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Medicine and Periodontology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kovac-Kavcic
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Skaleric
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D012534:Dental Scaling / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009066:Mouth, Edentulous / Q000453:epidemiology; D020380:Needs Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009910:Oral Hygiene / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010512:Periodontal Index; D010514:Periodontal Pocket / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D011322:Primary Prevention / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017524:Slovenia / Q000453:epidemiology