PREVALENCE OF PERIODONTAL DISEASE IN CEYLON - ASSOCIATION WITH AGE SEX ORAL HYGIENE SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS VITAMIN DEFICIENCIES MALNUTRITION BETEL AND TABACCO CONSUMPTION AND ETHNIC GROUP - FINAL REPORT

During the autumn of 1960 a periodontal survey was carried out in Ceylon by the WHO [World Health Organization] and the Government of Ceylon. A total of 5,248 males and 2,696 females, ranging in age from 13 to 60 and over, were examined. The periodontal index, (Russell) and the simplified oral hygiene index (Greene and Vermillion) were used. Presence and absence of vitamin A and B deficiencies, as well as malnutrition, was diagnosed. The prevalence and severity of periodontal disease increased steadily with age. The prevalence was considerably higher in females than in males after age 20. There was a strong association between socio-economic factors and PI [Periodontal Index] scores. Some clinical symptoms assumed to be the consequence of vitamin A deficiency, were not associated with higher PI scores. Clinical signs of vitamin B deficiency were associated with higher PI scores. Malnutrition was associated with high PI scores, and the effect was most pronounced in women. The prevalence of periodontal disease was higher in betel consumers than in non-consumers. The lower average PI scores in Europeans than in Ceyloneses can be attributed to better oral hygiene in the former. The periodontal conditions in Ceylon are comparable with those in other Asiatic countries, but much worse than in Norway. The higher prevalence of periodontitis in Ceylon than in some Western countries can be explained as the consequence of poorer oral hygiene; but betel consumption and malnutrition in some form or other may be responsible as well. No case corresponding to the classical criteria of periodontosis was detected.