Prevalence of Periodontitis in Dental Students in University Technology Mara

Abstract

Alveolar bone loss is one of the main features of periodontitis, bitewing radiographs has been used to evaluate the alveolar bone level. The objectives of this study were to evaluate and compare the prevalence of periodontitis in both genders of dental students in Universiti Teknologi MARA. One hundred and eighteen bite wing radiographs of 59 dental students of year 2 and 3 were collected from their previous clinical projects. Eighteen radiographs were excluded due to current active orthodontic treatment. All radiographs were scanned and uploaded to specific computer software to measure the amount of bone loss in the radiographs. The distance from cementoenamel junction to alveolar crest were measured in millimeters of each mesial and distal sites of upper and lower bicuspids, 1st molar and mesial site of 2nd molar. Measurements of 1322 sites were analyzed using students T-test to compare gender differences. All the students showed 100% prevalence of periodontitis due to more than 1mm bone loss at least in one site. High prevalence of periodontitis was found among all dental students. Males showed higher prevalence than females. Future management programs should be scheduled to prevent progression of bone loss among dental students.