Profile of periodontal conditions in selected West Malaysian adults

To obtain the profile of periodontal conditions in West Malaysian adults, five small scale surveys were carried out on selected occupational adult groups, 20-54 years old, between 1987 to 1990. Periodontal assessment was made using the CPITN index. In all, 779 subjects were examined. Results indicated that only 16% of the adults examined had healthy gingivae. Bleeding of the gingivae was limited to the younger (20-24 years) age group. Calculus is highly prevalent in at least 65.5% of all the subjects examined. Periodontal pockets were limited to mostly shallow pockets and the risk of developing pockets increased with increasing age. Both navy personnel and factory workers showed a higher number of healthy sextants across all ages as compared to the other three occupational groups; viz., rubber tappers, villagers and government workers. The rubber tappers were the only group with deep pockets, with the prevalence ranging between 8 to 25%. Implications of the findings to the Malaysian dental delivery system are discussed.