Prosthodontic and Periodontal Status and Needs in a Selected Population of Urban Poor in the Philippines: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the prosthodontic and periodontal status and needs in a group of adults from a poor urban community in the Philippines. Materials and methods:A sample consisting of 401 poor urban adults in a district in the Philippines was assessed using the WHO oral health assessment form. The examinations were conducted in natural light with a mouth mirror, community periodontal index (CPI) probe and an explorer with the subject seated in a regular chair. The following prosthodontics/ malocclusion traits were assessed; presence or absence of fixed and or removable appliances, treatment needs, presence of spacing, crowding in the incisal segments, overjet, open bite and posterior cross bite. The periodontal condition was assessed by means of the community periodontal index of treatment needs (CPITN) in relation to selected index teeth: The statistical analysis was carried out using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) (version 21.0). One-way ANOVA was used to compare the means and chi-square and Fisher's exact test was used to compare the proportions. The significance level was set at α = 0.05. Results:The majority of adult Filipinos had either calculus (84.8%) or shallow probing depths (11%). Only 1.7% had probing depths equal to or greater than 6 mm. Forty four (10.9%) subjects were wearing complete dentures in the maxilla and mandible and 11.7% had removable partial dentures in the maxilla while only 1.2% was wearing partials in the mandible. There was no statistically significant difference between the genders with regard to prosthetic status. Overall, 70.3 and 88.5% required prosthesis in the maxilla and mandible respectively. However, more subjects needed full prosthesis in the maxilla (25.9%) compared to mandible (16.5%). Conclusion:The majority of the sampled Filipino adults had significant unmet periodontal (high calculus rates and gingivitis) and prosthodontics needs.

Caries, Oral Health Knowledge, Behavior, and Barriers to Care Among a Group of Urban Poor in the Philippines: An Overview

“…The results of the analyses of this data have been reported recently. 22 All subjects were also requested to complete a questionnaire covering the following areas: oral health knowledge and practices, perceived oral health status, smoking habits and concerns regarding barriers to oral care. It was assumed that a majority of the sample population would most likely have a limited knowledge of spoken and written English posing a problem responding to a standard English language questionnaire format.…”