A socio-economic perspective on periodontal diseases: a systematic review

Objective: The aim of this systematic review was to ascertain whether socioeconomic conditions increase the risk of periodontal diseases. Methods: A MEDLINE search was conducted for the period 1965-April 2004. Only original articles were included; 47 studies remained for the final assessment. The studies were analysed regarding the outcome of the association between socioeconomic variables and periodontal disease, depending on the study design (cross-sectional survey or longitudinal case-control) and whether smoking was included or not. Results: Twenty-nine out of 36 studies with a cross-sectional design were in favour of the association between socio-economic factors and periodontal diseases. In the studies with a longitudinal or case-control design, there were five in favour of the association, and also six against. When smoking was included in the analysis of cross-sectional studies, a significant association between socio-economic variables and periodontal disease was found in I I studies and no significance in another five studies. The corresponding figures for case-control studies showed four studies being significant, but also four studies showing no significance. Conclusion: Based on relevant study designs and including smoking in the analysis, the socio-economic variables associated with periodontal diseases appear to be of less importance than smoking.