Plan Nacional de salud gingival.Situación periodontal y nivel de conocimientos y prácticas periodontales en la población participante

Resumo

Introduction. In October 1991, 1992 and 1993, the National Gingival Health Plan was developed as a result of collaboration between the General Council of Dentists and Stomatologists Associations of Spain and Signal S.A., with the following objectives: 1. to educate the population on the importance of oral hygiene and early diagnosis of periodontal disease, 2. - To promote the attendance of those individuals who believe it to be appropriate, in a free dental check-up, and 3.- to make dental professionals aware of the need to introduce routine periodontal diagnosis in their clinical practice. In the present publication we present the results of the examination of the population attended and of the telephone survey carried out among the interested parties. Material and methods. Those interested in participating in the program called a central telephone number to request to be attended. After answering a telephone survey on some demographic variables (age, sex, place of residence, etc.) and on the level of knowledge and attitudes in oral hygiene and periodontics, they were given the address and telephone number of the professional participating in the campaign closest to their home. The interested party made an appointment with the dentist, who performed a periodontal examination using the EPB (Basic Periodontal Examination) system, a clinical variant of the Community Periodontal Treatment Needs Index (CPITN). Results. Surveys of the participants showed that almost 80% were under 40 years of age. Less than half were aware of having gum problems, with bleeding being the most frequent, although many had not been prompted to seek care for their problem. The subjective perception of gingival bleeding, on some occasion, was manifested in 70%, although epidemiology shows that 97% suffer from it. Regarding the dental care patterns reported, 47% had not visited the dentist for more than a year and half of them did not visit the same dentist on a regular basis. The periodontal examination of the interested parties showed a high prevalence of the need for active treatment, 44.7%. The sex variable did not influence the results, although there was an increase in the prevalence of periodontitis with age. Discussion. The results of this study should be viewed with caution due to the special characteristics of the sample analyzed and the circumstances of the examination. On the other hand, this campaign has allowed us to collect the largest sample size carried out to date in Spain. The results reflect these particular conditions, revealing a periodontal affectation higher than that found in random epidemiological surveys. In all cases, the high prevalence of periodontal diseases in the population is verified, which contrasts with the neglect of the population for their oral and periodontal health. In conclusion,