Periodontal conditions in Hesse, Federal Republic of Germany, measured by CPITN.

The periodontal status and the need for treatment were investigated among 3140 inhabitants of the Federal German state of Hesse, using the CPITN index. The male and female subjects forming the case material were divided into 6 age categories (I up to 19 yr, II 20-24 yr, III 25-29 yr, IV 30-34 yr, V 35-44 yr, VI 45 yr or more). The dentitions of 1.3% of those examined were healthy from the periodontal aspects (CPITN 0). 3.3% of examined persons displayed an increased tendency towards bleeding on probing as the sole pathologic manifestation (CPITN 1); calculus and bleeding on probing (CPITN 2) were recorded in 35.5% of patients. Shallow pocketing (CPITN 3) was observed in 49.3, and deep pocketing (CPITN 4) in 10.6% of the examined subjects. There was a marked increase in scores 3 and 4 among patients from age group V. In addition, the posterior teeth were more susceptible to disease than those in the anterior segments, with slightly higher figures being recorded among female than among male individuals. 98.7% of the patients were in need of periodontal treatment. Application of the PTNS index yielded a treatment requirement of 6841.0 hours for the examined population. 2323 hours of this time were allocated to oral hygiene instruction, 4148 hours to scaling and 370 hours to surgical intervention.