Prevalence of periodontal disease in young Moroccans: A national survey

Abstract

Background: There are few large surveys of periodontal disease in young age cohorts, and national surveys in Africa do not exist. This study assessed the prevalence and severity of periodontal disease in a national survey of adolescents and young adults in Morocco. Methods: A multistage probability sampling design was used to draw a sample of 14,667 students 12-25 years old attending 87 schools. The sample was representative of approximately three million Moroccan students in this age group. Results: A total of 27.9%, 11.9%, and 7.7% of the subjects had ≥1 tooth with ≥4, ≥5, and ≥6 mm probing depth, and the population estimates were ≈ 822,436, 349,961, and 226,297 affected subjects, respectively. For attachment loss, the prevalences were: 11.6%, 9.5%, and 6.9% (or ≈ 341,761, 281,043, and 203,977 affected subjects) for ≥4, ≥5, and ≥6 mm, respectively. The rates of probing depth and attachment loss increased significantly with the increase in age (p < 0.01, p < 0.001). Sex and urban status did not show significant effects on the prevalence of periodontal disease (p > 0.05). Similarly, the relationship between the occupation status and periodontal status was modest and not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Children and young adults attending public schools in Morocco have a high prevalence and severity of periodontal disease compared with other populations of similar age. The rate of periodontal disease reported here may be used as baseline population estimates in the surveillance of disease status in this population.

Association of Filifactor alocis and its RTX toxin gene ftxA with periodontal attachment loss, and in synergy with Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans

“…There is a wide geographical spread ( Bouziane et al., 2020 ). Among adolescents from the western and northern parts of Africa, the disease has been observed to have a high incidence ( Kissa et al., 2022 ; Yoshida et al., 2021 ). A highly leukotoxin (LtxA)-producing genotype of the Gram-negative bacterium, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans , JP2, is associated with the periodontal disease progress in these geographical regions ( Haubek et al., 2008 ; Höglund Åberg et al., 2014 ).…”

Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Filifactor alocis as Associated with Periodontal Attachment Loss in a Cohort of Ghanaian Adolescents

“…The global prevalence of this disease indicates a wide geographical spread [9]. High incidence of this disease can be found in adolescents from the northern and western part of Africa [10,11]. Longitudinal studies on adolescents in these geographic regions indicate a substantial role of the microbiota with high prevalence of a highly leukotoxic variant of the facultative anaerobic, Gram-negative bacterium Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, namely, the JP2 genotype [12][13][14].…”