Prevalence of Periodontal Disease in a Hospitalized Population

¹ Veterans Administration Hospital, Brooklyn, New York

A complete physical examination was provided for a sample of 4,832 hospitalized white male veterans. The oral examination included full-mouth radiograms and careful clinical evaluation of the periodontal structures. Each patient was classified according to the proportion of teeth affected by periodontal disease (PDR) and the disease entity or systemic disease of greatest generalized significance.

There were 838 edentulous patients. The residual tooth population in the remaining 3,994 persons declined rapidly with aging, from an average of 26.9 teeth per person at ages twenty to twenty-nine to 8.8 teeth per person at ages sixty to sixty-nine.

Eight per cent of teeth were affected by periodontal disease to the twenty-fifth year of age. Thereafter, periodontal disease increased rapidly at a steady rate of 1.8 per cent of remaining teeth per year until the age of fifty-five years. By the forty-fifth year, half of all remaining teeth were affected, and, at fifty-five, over 70 per cent of teeth were affected. Periodontal tissues which had resisted disease up to the age of fifty-five tended to maintain this resistance with increasing age.

The influence of generalized diseases upon periodontal health was not remarkable except in patients with relatively severe diabetes and in those with cirrhosis of the liver. Periodontal disease was also higher, but not significantly, in patients with arteriosclerosis and gastrointestinal disorders.

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