Self-reported oral problems, compared with clinical assessment in an epidemiological study

To study self-reported oral problems in relation to periodontal clinical findings in an epidemiological investigation.

1676 individuals, 828 men and 848 women, participated. The clinical examination comprised the number of remaining teeth excluding third molars, plaque index (PLI), gingival index (GI), bleeding on probing (BOP%), calculus index (CI) and the number of teeth with pocket depth (PD) > or =5 mm. Participants answered a questionnaire concerning smoking and snuffing habits and described in their own words any oral problems present. Analysis of variance (anova), unpaired t-test and chi-squared test were the statistical methods used.

The questionnaire was completed by 99.4% of participants. Problems of the teeth and mouth were reported by 28.9% of respondents comprising 31.8% females and 26.2% males. The difference between the sexes was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Of the reported oral problems, 57.4% was of periodontal origin. The differences between subjects with and without self-reported mobile teeth showed significant clinical outcome in PLI (P < 0.001), CI (P < 0.01), GI (P < 0.001), BOP% (P < 0.01), the number of teeth with PD > or = 5 mm (P < 0.001) and the number of remaining teeth (P < 0.001). The differences between subjects with and without self-reported periodontal disease and with and without bleeding gingiva also showed significant differences in CI (P < 0.05), GI (P < 0.05) and the number of teeth with PD > or = 5 mm (P < 0.05) and in PLI (0.001), CI (P < 0.01), GI (P < 0.001) and BOP% (P < 0.001) respectively.

Present study clearly shows that self-reported periodontal problems were confirmed by clinical assessments.