A rapid, non-invasive tool for periodontitis screening in a medical care setting

BMC Oral Health

Table 1 Demographic, dental and periodontal characteristics for the study population (n = 156)

	No or mild periodontitis^d	Moderate periodontitis^d	Severe periodontitis^d	Total periodontitis (moderate + severe)^d
Demographics
N (%)	51 (32.7)	54 (34.6)	51 (32.7)	105 (67.3)
Age (years)	33.2 ± 13.9	48.1 ± 15.7	54.1 ± 11.8^b***	51.0 ± 14.2^a***
Sex
Male	22 (43.1)	27 (50.0)	37 (72.5)^b**	64 (61.0)^a*
Female	29 (56.9)	27 (50.0)	14 (27.5)	41 (39.0)
Smoking
Yes	8 (15.7)	9 (16.7)	20 (39.2)^b**	29 (27.6)^c
No	42 (82.4)	41 (75.9)	30 (58.8)	71 (67.6)
Missing	1 (2.0)	4 (7.4)	1 (2.0)	5 (4.8)
Clinical measurements
Number teeth	28.1 ± 3.81	24.3 ± 4.46	24.1 ± 4.64^b**	24.2 ± 4.53^a***
Bleeding on probing (%)	24.5 ± 15.7	29.2 ± 17.9	46.6 ± 26.2^b***	37.6 ± 23.9^a***
Probing pocket depth (mm)	2.12 ± 0.26	2.31 ± 0.34	3.18 ± 0.88^b***	2.73 ± 0.79^a***
Clinical attachment loss (mm)	1.36 ± 0.45	2.08 ± 0.63	3.90 ± 1.37^b***	2.96 ± 1.39^a***

Data are presented as either mean ± SD or n (%)
Mann-Whitney U tests (for continuous data) and chi-square tests (for categorical data) were used to assess differences between groups:
^asignificantly different from no/mild periodontitis
^bsignificantly different from patients without severe periodontitis
^cAlthough not reaching statistical significance, the variable did suffice the p < 0.20 cut-off level to be included in the regression analysis
^ddefinitions for periodontitis according to Page and Eke (2007) [20]
*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001

ISSN: 1472-6831