Differing profiles of periodontal disease in two similar South Pacific island populations

Abstract

The periodontal condition of a cross-section of individuals aged between 15-59 years was characterised from clinical and radiographic observations of dental calculus, gingival inflammation, the level of the gingival attachment , alveolar bone loss, teeth missing or requiring extraction for periodontal reasons. The common characteristics of the profile in Tonga and W. Samoa were a high prevalence of the factors common to periodontal disease: calculus and gingival inflammation; a progressive apical movement of the gingival attachment; and alveolar bone loss. All these criteria showed a positive age dependency with calculus (particularly subgingival calculus) and gingival inflammation being very commonly associated with all tooth types at an early age, less than 30 years. Tooth loss observed was presumed to be previously associated with periodontal disease because the prevalence of dental caries was very low in both populations. Substantial differences were observed in the number of missing teeth between Tongan and Samoan populations, the Tongan subjects having a high rate of tooth loss. From radiographic interpretations of the periodontal conditions fewer subjects in Tonga were assessed as having no disease, and there was a higher prevalence of progressive destructive disease in Tonga than in W. Samoa. The proportion of subjects in both countries with no disease decreased rapidly with age. There was no evident explanation of the greater severity of disease in Tonga than in W. Samoa. The prevalence of microbial plaque, calculus and gingival inflammation was very high in all subjects at all ages particularly over 30 years in both populations.

Factors associated with adult periodontitis in a dental teaching clinic population

“…Prevalence of AP is higher among males (Beck et al 1987;Miller et al 1987) and non Whites (Kelly and Nikias et aI 1975) and those who smoke (Bergstrom 1989; Horning et aI 1992; Locker and Leake 1993) or have compromised health, e.g. diabetes Hugson et aI 1989;Emrich et aI 1993 International longitudinal and cross-sectional studies have shown that some populations (Cutress et al 1982;Africa et aI 1985) / individuals (LOe et al 1986) are apparently resistant to periodontitis despite exposure to abundant plaque and experiencing a high prevalence of gingivitis (Africa et al 1985). A 15-year longitudinal study of the natural history of periodontitis was conducted among a homogeneous, caries-free Sri Lankan population which had never experienced dentistry.…”

Ancient bacterial DNA (aDNA) in dental calculus from archaeological human remains

“…However, as a person attracts a fatal infection, and lives his last weeks or days, the microorganisms causing his death will be found in saliva, and therefore his post mortem dental calculus. Moreover, different people, in different locations on the globe, may have different bacteria specific to their oral floras (Cutress et al, 1982;Preus et al, 1995). If such different, specific bacteria are possible to find in different populations in our globalized society, it would undoubtedly be true for ancient cultures with no, or far less exchange of people, and thereby microorganisms.…”

Evaluation of Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC) of Saliva in Caries Active and Caries free Tribal School Going Children of Wardha District.

“…This is certainly true for the present study group for whom dental services are non existent, attributable to socioeconomic conditions, and fear of mixing with members of other communities. [6,7] The use of saliva as a diagnostic fluid has become somewhat of a transitional success story during the last few decades. It is a complex biological fluid composed of enzymes, hormones, antibacterial constituents, electrolytes etc.…”

“…Results of studies on TAC Tulunoglu et al [9] Total antioxidant values were higher in caries active groups Uberos et al [13] Total antioxidant capacity of the saliva of patients with caries in deciduous teeth was greater than among those without caries Prabhakar et al [14] Total antioxidant capacity of saliva increased significantly in caries active children Hegde et al [15] Total antioxidant capacity of saliva increased in children with caries Preethi et al [10] Total antioxidant capacity of saliva increased in caries active children Kumar et al [16] TAC of saliva increased in children with Severe early childhood caries and increasing prevalence of dental caries predisposes to the increase in TAC of saliva Dodwad et al [1] Total antioxidant capacity of saliva increased significantly in cariesactive children when compared to caries-free children Hegde et al1 [7] TAC level increases with increase in severity of caries Ahmadi-Motamayel et al [18] TAC was significantly higher in the saliva of caries active group relative to the caries free subjects Mahjoub et al1 [9] TAC levels and salivary total protein increased in children with severe early childhood caries compared with caries-free children Pandey et al [20] Total antioxidants in saliva increased with caries activity Muchandi et al [21] Salivary TAC increases in patients with early childhood caries Silva et al [22] Salivary Total Antioxidant capacity was higher in children with early childhood caries as compared to caries free children …”