The Prevalance Of Juvenile Periodontitis Among Patietns Attending Khartoum Teaching Dental Hospital

Abstract

The need to accurately determine the prevalence of disease is important especially in establishing treatment needs for particular population groups. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and gender ratio of Juvenile periodontitis in selected Sudanese patients, to compare those results with previous Sudanese figures and results, and determine the percentage of localized and generalized Juvenile periodontitis among those patients. During three months (From November 2004 to January 2005) a total of 4.688 patients attending the out patient clinic at Khartoum Teaching Dental Hospital were examined. Patients were diagnosed to be juvenile periodontitis subjects if they had mild gingival inflammation, scanty plaque deposits, have any tooth mobility or pathologic migration, their age range from 11- 29 years and had a negative medical history. Subjects were specifically excluded if they have a history of systemic disease, with special attention to Down’s syndrome, blood dyscrasiase, Papillon- Lefever syndrome and diabetes mellitus. Panoramic radiographs to confirm the diagnosis (for 24 cases) were taken. Radiographs show vertical bone loss (arch-shape). The patients with juvenile periodontitis were then classified as localized or generalized type. Any extracted or missing teeth were not included in the criteria for the classification similar to what was used by Harmand (1979). (42) Localized Juvenile periodontitis was characterized by loss of attachment > 3mm around the incisors, molars and the mesial surface of the second molars in both jaws. A more generalized pattern of periodontal destruction, involving teeth other than or in addition to the incisors and first molars, was recognized as generalized Juvenile periodontitis. Personal data for each patient with Juvenile periodontitis including age, gender, occupation, tribe, residence as well as oral hygiene practice was recorded. Ninety-five cases of Juvenile periodontitis were diagnosed from the total population (4688), 18 (18.9%) males and 77 (81.1%) females. The over all prevalence of juvenile periodontitis was 2% and varied considerably between males and females' .Females had a higher juvenile periodontitis prevalence (1.6%) than males (0.4%) with female to male ratio of 4:1. Approximately (83.2%) of Juvenile periodontitis patients were estimated to have localized Juvenile periodontitis while (16.8%) had a generalized type. The data supports the idea that periodontal disease is more prevalent among Sudanese coming from Western (38.9%) and Northern (34.7%) than those from Eastern (3.2%) and Southern (1.1%) Sudanese States. Finally about 6 cases from the 95 patients with juvenile periodontitis had supernumerary teeth , 4 of them were males and 2 were females. In conclusion it is important to advice patients with juvenile periodontitis for maintenance of good oral hygiene levels, together with regular dental visits at an early stage of the disease progression.