PERIODONTAL STATUS IN AN URBAN ADULT-POPULATION IN SWEDEN

The purpose was to describe the current periodontal status in a Swedis h urban population aged 31-40 yr. 1681 individuals, 840 men and 841 wo men, participated in the study. 68.5% of the subjects had low amount o f plaque, 82.8% low level of calculus and 28.9% healthy gingiva or mil d gingivitis. 82.8% of the subjects had no pockets with probing depth (PD) greater-than-or-equal-to 5 mm. 4.9% of the subjects had one tooth with PD greater-than-or-equal-to 5 mm. 6.7% 2-5 teeth. 2.4% 6-9 teeth and 3.2% greater-than-or-equal-to 10 teeth with pockets. 55.8% of the subjects had no missing teeth, third molars excluded. 16.5% had one t ooth missing. 23.8% 2-5 teeth, 2.7% 6-9 teeth and 1.2% greater-than-or -equal-to 10 teeth. 8.6% of the subjects had at least one front tooth missing, 28.7% one premolar and 24.1% one molar missing. Men had signi ficantly higher scores than women for plaque (DI-S), calculus (CI-S), gingivitis (GI-M), and number and percent of remaining teeth with PD g reater-than-or-equal-to 5 mm. Smokers had significantly higher scores than non-smokers for DI-S, CI-S, GI-M, number and percent of remaining teeth with PD greater-than-or-equal-to 5 mm, and number of missing te eth. The individuals who visited the dentist every year had better ora l hygiene and gingival status than those who attended for > 3 yr. The multiple regression analysis showed that calculus (P = 0.0001) smoking (P = 0.001), and dental visits (P = 0.0284) were significantly correl ated to the number of teeth with PD greater-than-or-equal-to 5 mm.