Periodontal status and treatment needs among Spanish military personnel

Introduction: Problems arising from poor gingival and periodontal health in military personnel account for around 10% of the emergencies of oral origin during deployments and manoeuvres. Consequently, it is important to ascertain the prior oral health situation among Spanish military personnel. Objective: To assess the periodontal health status and treatment needs of a population of Spanish Army personnel at the General Almirante Base at Marines, in the province of Valencia, and calculate the time required to cover the treatment needs of this population. Materials and methods: Observational cross-sectional study of periodontal health status in a representative sample of the population in question. The community periodontal index (CPI) was used in accordance with WHO criteria. The sample comprised 387 subjects, selected by systematically sampling those attending the sick bay at the base for different reasons. The examinations were carried out by a single examiner; the intra-observer Kappa index was 0.83. Data collection began in December 2003 and ended in July 2004. Results: All sextants were healthy in 7,2% of the sample. The most prevalent condition was the presence of calculus, especially in the younger population. 7.8% had 4-5 mm periodontal pockets and 2.3% had pockets of 6 mm or more, all in the over-25 age group. The women below 25 years of age were significantly more healthy than the men. The healthy sextants mean was 2.38, without differences by rank. Privates presented a significantly higher mean figure for sextants with bleeding, while officers and non-commissioned officers presented a higher average number of sextants with pockets. Practically every subject needed oral hygiene instructions and scaling and root planing but only 2.3%, all over 25 years old, required complex treatments. The estimated treatment time need is 1 hour per person per year.