Prevalence of dental caries and periodontal disease in a Saudi population

Objective: To assess the dental caries periodontal disease and toothbrushing frequency among a population having access to dental care facilities. Design: World Health Organization (WHO) Oral Health Form was used to survey the population. Setting: King Saud University, College of Dentistry, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Subjects: One hundred and eighty male and female patients with age range 25-55 years. Results: There is an increase of decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) values with age in both male and female groups. Periodontal disease is very common in both females and male groups only 4-6 percent were healthy in both groups, ie. without periodontal disease. More than 50% had the habit of brushing their teeth twice daily. Conclusions: Both female and male groups had moderate to advanced levels of dental caries and periodontal disease. There is a need to raise the importance of oral health education, community based preventive measures and implementation of oral hygiene regimens. Tooth mortality can be decreased by refreshing the dentists working at primary care centers by preventive dentistry and finally there is a need to develop a national food policy and regularizing sugar intake.