Periodontal diseases in urban and rural population in Tanzania
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Date
1983
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Publisher
University of Dar es Salaam
Abstract
In the process of planning oral health services a proper analysis of the current situation is essential. It is the first of the six steps described by the World Health Organisation. The results might also lead to recommendations for the education of the professional dental health workers. This is especially important for Tanzania, where the School of Dentistry has been founded recently and the curriculum for the future dentists is in the phase of development. Therefore, it was decided to carry out a field survey in Morogoro town and surrounding villages to register the prevalence and severity of periodontal disease in urban and rural populations in Tanzania. A sample of more than 800 persons in five age categories from 15 years onwards were investigated using the internationally recognized method WHO 621. Missing teeth and all teeth with recession, plaque, calculus, pockets 3.5-5.5 mm, pockets > 5.5 mm or gingivitis were counted. The results were later on converted into the recent developed Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs CPITN. The overall pattern of periodontal disease in the sampled group was as follows: There is much plaque; there is much calculus, even at the younger age and there is a high percentage of persons with gingivitis. But the progression of the disease with loss of attachment seems to be rather slow. There is some recession, but the frequency of small (3.5-5.5 mm) pockets and certainly deep pockets (> 5.5 mm) is low. Terminal stages of periodontal disease were hardly observed. When the data from this field survey are transferable to the population at large, the conclusion is that the rate of loss of attachment of the teeth seems to be compatible with keeping a functioning dentition for life in the vast majority of the Tanzanian people. The consequences for planning oral health care and for planning dental education and research are discussed.
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Keywords
Periodontal disease, Dentistry
Citation
Lembariti, B.S (1983) Periodontal diseases in urban and rural population in Tanzania, Masters dissertation, University of Dar es Salaam. Available at (http://41.86.178.3/internetserver3.1.2/detail.aspx?parentpriref= )