Periodontal health in various ethnic groups in Israel

Abstract

The periodontal status of approximately 5,000 subjects belonging to nine ethnic groups of Oriental origin, aged four years and above and living in villages in Israel, was investigated. The severity of periodontal involvement of a group was found to be similar whether expressed as gingivitis in childhood or as destructive periodontal disease in adolescence and adult life. Gingivitis reached its peak at the age of 10 to 11 years and then tended to level off or even decline. The periodontal index (PI) and gingival recession rate (GRR) both formed straight line graphs between the ages of 17 and 55+. The incidence and prevalence of periodontal disease were almost uniformly higher in males than in females. In the populations investigated in the present study, it appears unwarranted to attribute this difference to differences in attitude to oral health and hygiene between the sexes. The possibility that habitual chewing of the leaves of Catha edulis is a causative factor in the exceptionally high rates of periodontal disease in Yemenite males is discussed. The periodontal health of the best groups was inferior to that of white Americans, and of the same order as that of American Negroes and the inhabitants of Lebanon and Chile. The most severe degree of involvement was comparable to findings in South‐East Asia, and occurred in people who had immigrated from India.

Oral hygiene and periodontal health status among khat chewers. A case-control study

“…This study revealed that Khat chewers had significantly more attachment loss and more gingival recession than non-chewers, which is in agreement with most of previous studies (5,8,12,13,17). A plausible explanation of these findings is that chronic and intense khat chewing probably results in chronic trauma and vertical impaction to the periodontium, resulting in gingival recession and attachment loss.…”

“…While most studies found a positive association between khat chewing and the occurrence of periodontal diseases (5,8,10,12-14), some did not report this association (15,16). Rosenzweig and Smith (17) were the first investigators to suggest a possible effect of khat chewing on periodontal tissues. In their study, the authors found that Yemeni Jews had higher rates of periodontal diseases compared to other ethnic groups.…”

Tooth mortality in smokers and nonsmokers in a selected population in Sana'a, Yemen

“…Tobacco smoking can affect periodontal tissues directly, causing local irritation, and gingival pockets tend to be greater in the maxillary lingual sites (27). However, the difference was reversed in the 35–44‐ and 45–54‐years age groups, whereby the nonsmokers appeared to have significantly higher mean upper tooth loss compared with smokers, a situation that may be ascribed to inferior oral hygiene status because oral care is given low priority, or even neglected altogether, by those within these age groups in Yemen (28).…”

Khat Chewing from the Pharmacological Point of View: An Update

“…The association between khat use and periodontal diseases (Rosenzweig and Smith, 1966), stomatitis, and teeth staining (Halbach, 1972;Luqman and Danowski, 1976) have been proposed by early reviewers of the topic, but no data or controlled studies were being quoted to support the validity of these medical observations. Indeed, khat chewers may suffer inflammatory and traumatic lesions of the oral mucosa.…”