Epidemiology of periodontal disease

The year covered in this review was marked with significant reports related to the prevalence and severity of periodontal disease in the United States and throughout the world. A series of well-conducted studies reported in peer-reviewed journals examined risk factors related to the high severity of periodontal disease as measured by progressive attachment loss. An interesting development during the year is the increased attention paid to collaborative international studies that document periodontal disease prevalence and severity in six different countries, thus providing a broader understanding of periodontal disease on a worldwide basis. Importantly, several papers discuss the policy implications of the periodontal literature for educational programs and clinical practice. These papers include major reports on national treatment needs in the United States, the use of statistical models and problems related to statistical analysis of periodontal data, and finally, a call for the use of epidemiologic data in program planning, implementation, and evaluation.