The Prevalence and Sex Ratio of Juvenile Periodontitis in a Young Racially Mixed Population

Abstract

The need to accurately determine the prevalence of a disease is important especially in establishing treatment needs for particular population groups. Reported prevalences for juvenile periodontitis (JP) have varied from less than 0.1% to 17%. The use of overall prevalence values to determine treatment needs in populations which include various ethnic groups is not reliable since there is evidence that the prevalence in different groups is unequal. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and sex ratio of JP in a large group of military recruits and to compare these values between the different racial populations. Thirty-eight cases of JP were diagnosed from a group of 5,013 young male and female recruits of varying ethnic origin. The overall prevalence was 0.76% and the female:male ratio 1.1:1.0. These findings raise questions as to the continued quotation of a female:male ratio of 3:1, and provide additional evidence for an overall ratio closer to 1:1. In addition, prevalences of JP varied considerably between racial groups. Blacks had a much higher JP prevalence (2.1%) than caucasians (0.09%). Black males had a higher prevalence (3.81%) than black females (1.99%). For black recruits the F:M ratio was 0.52:1. For caucasian recruits the F:M trend is opposite (4.3:1), although the number of cases diagnosed in the caucasian group was too low to compute a true ratio. The data support studies which show that in the blacks, the disease is less prevalent in females than in males. Caution must be exercised in interpreting results in any study in which the sample population is not categorized.

Periodontal profile and presence of periodontal pathogens in young African-Americans from Salvador, BA, Brazil

“…Only the plaque index was relatively high (0.71) and was similar to those observed among the population with periodontal disease (19). The results observed here differ from those observed by authors who reported higher occurrences of periodontal disease in African-descendant subjects compared to populations of different ethnic groups including Caucasians and Asians among others (8,9,26,31,46). …”

Prevalence of alveolar bone loss in healthy children treated at private pediatric dentistry clinics

“…In a recent study with a sample of Brazilian children, Pierro reported no effect of gender on the distance CeJ-ABC. Other studies 16,19,26 did not find differences in BL when comparing both genders. Papapanou, et al 22 (1988) found, statistically, greater BL among males than females.…”

Neutrophil Formylpeptide Receptor Single Nucleotide Polymorphism 348T>C in Aggressive Periodontitis

“…A significant number of African Americans are affected by aggressive periodontitis 19,20,24. Our study suggests that individuals who are homozygous for 348T in the FPR1 gene could have an increased risk for developing AP.…”