Selected examination findings related to periodontal disease among adults, United States - 1960-1962.

In a previous report the Health Examination Survey estimated the prevalence among U.S. adults of inflammatory disease of the anatomic structures that support teeth. Based on examinations conducted during 1960-62, the estimates underscore not only the high prevalence of periodontal disease but also its wide range of distribution throughout the United States. About 44 million adults aged 18-79 years had gingivitis without obvious pocket formation, the report estimated, and about 23 million had chronic destructive disease with one or more pockets diagnostic of advanced periodontal disease. Distinct patterns of distribution prevailed: more disease was generally present in older people than in younger ones, in men than in women, and in Negro adults than in white. In addition, men and women who were economically and educationally more advantaged usually had less periodontal disease than others. Oral hygiene among sample men and women who had one or more of six specified teeth was also evaluated. As foreseen, both the prevalence and severity of periodontal disease increased as oral hygiene worsened. Demographic differences in the distribution of periodontal disease were either largely or fully leveled when allowance was made for variations in oral hygiene. However, among people with equivalent levels of oral hygiene, older men and women had more periodontal disease than younger men and women. Briefly, both age and oral hygiene emerged as important factors, each of which was related independently of the other, in the prevalence and severity of periodontal disease.