Prevalence and severity of periodontal disease among Spanish military personnel.

INTRODUCTION: Periodontal disease ranges from simple gums inflammation to major damage to the periodontal tissues, even losing teeth. Severe periodontitis has a world overall prevalence of 11.2%. These are evaluated with periodontal probes and oral epidemiological indices. Our aim is to estimate the prevalence and severity of periodontal disease of a Spanish military population according to the 2013 WHO criteria. METHODS: Observational study of prevalence carried out in a representative random sample of 221 military staff from the Spanish Army base 'Conde de Gazola'. Prevalence was estimated by calculating the Community Periodontal Index modified, loss of attachment, Plaque Index and Gingival Bleeding Index measured with a third-generation electronic 'Pa-on' periodontal probe. RESULTS: Averages of probing depth, recession and clinical attachment level were 2.17, 0.19 and 2.36 mm. Plaque and gingival bleeding indices were 71% and 40.3%. All subjects bled in some tooth after probing. 3.6% of subjects had no periodontal pockets, 58.8% mild periodontal pockets and 37.1% severe periodontal pockets. All had some loss of attachment, 52% mild loss of attachment and 47.5% severe loss of attachment. Teeth present with and without bleeding were 24.4 (86.5%) and 3.6 (13.1%). 28% of teeth had periodontal pockets and 40.4% loss of attachment. Sextant averages with periodontal pockets and loss of attachment were 2.79 and 3.56. CONCLUSIONS: Our plaque and gingival bleeding indices were high and we found a higher prevalence and severity of periodontal disease than other Spanish and foreign military populations. This could be related to differences in context, life habits and insufficient dental hygiene.

Epidemiological methods used in the periodontal health research in military personnel: a systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: Periodontal disease is a prevalent pathology in military personnel worldwide. The objective is to analyse the methodological features of periodontal health research performed in military personnel in their home countries. METHODS: A PRISMA systematic review of literature was carried out in PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science databases on military periodontal health studies. Study design type, language, publication date, year, country, size and sample selection, age, sex, military, diagnostic procedure, examiners, periodontal, gingival and oral hygiene index were extracted. RESULTS: Eighty-eight out of 5355 studies found were selected, published between 1921 and 2020, with samples ranging from 52 to 16 869 individuals, generally not randomised, and consisting mainly of men with a mean age of 25 years. Predominant studies were cross-sectional descriptive studies, carried out in the Army, on American military personnel, and in the English language. Most of the studies used the WHO periodontal probe handled by two or more examiners. The Löe and Silness gingival index and the Silness and Löe plaque index were the most used indexes to assess gingival condition and oral hygiene, respectively. Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs was the most widely used periodontal index. CONCLUSIONS: Research on periodontal health carried out in military populations from the 1920s to the present has been performed from an almost exclusively descriptive approach. Issues such as the characteristics and representativeness of the samples, the epidemiological design and the different gingival-periodontal indexes used may limit the comparability of the study results.

[An analysis of the potential years of life lost to cancer in Asturias and Spain]. / Análisis de los años potenciales de vida perdidos por cáncer en Asturias y España.

BACKGROUND: Potential years of life lost (PYLL) constitute a health indicator, used to study premature mortality. If applied, it produces an order in causes of death, which can be very different from that one, obtained with mortality rates. METHODS: Mortality, due to different pathologies, was analyzed with this indicator and, particularly, mortality due to cancer in Asturias and Spain. The estimation of (PYLL) was made using fixed age limits: the first anniversary, as the lowest limit, and 65 years, as the highest limit. RESULTS: Cancer happened to be the first cause of (PYLL) in both populations (286,473 PYLL in Spain; out of them 9,985 belonging to Asturias); road accidents were the second cause (139,673 and 4,755 respectively) and acute myocardium infarcts were the third cause (70,106 PYLL and 2,897 PYLL). Lung tumours, leukaemias and breast cancer in women are the malignant tumours which produce the highest number of PYLL. CONCLUSIONS: Malignant tumours, road accidents and ischaemic heart disease are the three major causes responsible for the PYLL production in Spain and Asturias. These three pathologies are associated to well known risk factors, whose disappearance would considerably reduce early mortality. Likewise, an excess of premature mortality is observed in Asturias compared with Spain, and in men compared with women.

[Hospital utilization in health areas of the principality of Asturias]. / Estudio de utilización de hospitales en areas de salud del principado de Asturias.

In order to examine the characteristics of the use of the hospitals in the Principality of Asturias by the population in several different health areas in which the Autonomous Community is divided, a study of admittances and discharges has been carried out on a sample of 2,321 files out of a total number of files of 14,973. The purpose was to find out the frequency of visits, the attractiveness and the geographical accessibility of the hospitals, as well as some of the factors which modify the flow of patients and which cause disequilibrium between the various areas. We have found important differences in the use of hospitals relating to age, sex, distance from the facility, and the characteristics of the area, which reflect serious intra-regional disequilibrium; there is a tendency towards the most frequent use of facilities among those situated in the central part of the Principality, in a range varying from 1.85 to 3.20 admittances/day by 10E-4. This data can be useful at the present time as there is currently under way a regional health plan for the distribution of hospital resources.