Aim: Periodontal diseases are associated with systemic health and health behaviors; the purpose of this study was to investigate periodontal health status and its association with systemic health and health behaviors in the elderly.
Materials and methods: Data was collected from 300 random Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) dental school patient charts, aged 65 or higher. A modified WHO form was used to collect the date on: periodontal conditions using the community periodontal index (CPI), demographics, systemic health and certain health behaviors. Community periodontal index collected data for six sextants. Descriptive tests and bivariate analytic tests, Chi-square test and computation of odds ratio, investigated any association between certain periodontal conditions and demographic as well as systemic health attributes.
Results: In the study cohort, the average age was 73.7 ± 6.8 years. Moderate periodontitis (38.9%) was the most prevalent periodontal health condition, while severe periodontitis was the least prevalent periodontal health (6.1%). Nearly 30% of the cohort had healthy periodontium. Only insurance status was associated with healthy periodontium (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: Moderate periodontitis was the most prevalent among the studied subjects. A positive association was found with the insurance status of the subjects and the healthy periodontium. No association was found between periodontal disease and smoking, alcohol consumption, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Keywords: Dental insurance; Epidemiology; Periodontal disease; Smoking; Systemic health.