Gingival and periodontal conditions associated with socioeconomic factors

Objective To assess the prevalence of gingival bleeding, calculus and periodontal pockets among 18-year-old males. In addition, to verify whether these conditions are associated with years of education and family income. Methods A cross sectional survey was carried out. A representative sample of 18-year-old males living in Florianopolis, Brazil, was selected from the Brazilian Army applicant list. Clinical and socioeconomic data were collected through dental examinations and interviews, respectively. Socioeconomic data included the subjects and their parents' years of education, and family income. A single dentist carried out the dental examinations looking for gingival bleedings after probing, calculus and shallow and deep periodontal pockets (3.5 mm to 5.5 mm and 5.5 mm and over), The associations between periodontal conditions and socioeconomic variables were analyzed using the qui-square test. Results A total of 286 people participated in the study. Intra-examiner agreement was high. All kappa values were above 0.7 The prevalence of gingival bleeding, calculus, shallow and deep periodontal pockets were 86%, 50.7%, 7.7% and 0.3% respectively. There were associations between gingival bleeding and all socioeconomic variables (p <0.001). Calculus were associated with the subjects and their father's low educational level (p <0.05) and with their mothers low educational level (p <0.01). Periodontal pockets were associated with their father's low educational level (p <0.05). Conclusions The prevalence of periodontal pockets was very low, while gingival bleeding and calculus were high. General periodontal health of the studied population was good.