Periodontal status in relation to education and dental attendance. A 12 year longitudinal and a cross-sectional study of a random sample of dentate middle-aged women in Gothenburg.

The periodontal status of samples from an urban population of women aged 38-60 years was studied in a longitudinal (1968-1980) and a cross-sectional investigation. The variables studied were the number of remaining teeth and the proximal alveolar bone height assessed by measurements on panoramic radiographs. Periodontal status was related to educational level and time elapsed since the last visit to a dentist. Longitudinal study: About 65 per cent of the women had no higher education than elementary school. In all age-groups, women with the lowest educational level had significantly fewer remaining teeth than those in higher educational groups. During the 12-year observation period 1.7-2.0 teeth were lost on an average, irrespective of educational level. There were no differences of mean bone height between the educational groups either in 1968 or in 1980. However, in the two lowest groups about 3 per cent, compared to 4 per cent of the women with a higher educational level exhibited periodontal breakdown corresponding to approximately one fourth of the total root length. Sixty-nine per cent of the women had visited their dentists within the last year and 17 per cent had done so more than two years ago. In all age groups in educational group 1 the most recent visitors had more remaining teeth and had on average lost fewer teeth during the 12-year period than the others (1.7 compared to 2.3-2.6 teeth). The mean bone levels were significantly higher, both in 1968 and in 1980, and the percentages of women showing pronounced breakdown of alveolar bone during the observation period was significantly lower among the most recent visitors. Cross-sectional study: The investigation included two cohorts, one comprising 38-year-old and the other 50-year-old women. Sixty-seven per cent of the women in the 38-year, cohort from 1968 had only completed elementary school, compared to 34 per cent of the women of the same age in 1980. No such difference was found in the 50-year in cohorts, of which 66 per cent both in 1968 and in 1980 had only elementary school education. The women in both had significantly more remaining teeth and more periodontal bone support in 1980 than those in the same age-groups in 1968.