WORLDWIDE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SPREAD OF PERIODONTAL DISEASE: REVIEW

• Main Authors: Maria-Alexandra Martu, Sorina-Mihaela Solomon, Ionut Luchian, Georgeta Maria Laza, Diana Anton, Raluca Mocanu, Dorin-Nicolae Gheorghe, Surlin Petra
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Romanian Dental Association for Education 2020-05-01
• Series: Romanian Journal of Medical and Dental Education
• Subjects: periodontal disease; etiological factor; epidemiological analysis; ethnicities.
• Online Access: http://journal.adre.ro/worldwide-epidemiological-spread-of-periodontal-disease-review/
• ISSN: 2393-1108; 2393-1531

Periodontal disease as a spectrum of diseases has a high prevalence all over the world, affecting all ages but even more so the elderly. Although the advancement of the medical field has made many breakthroughs in a multitude of diseases, still a specific and reliable treatment has not been discovered yet in this particular pathology. Periodontitis is an oral disease which affects the soft and hard tissues surrounding teeth and it causes the gradual attachment loss of dental structures, eventually leading to the complete expulsion of the dental unit. It is defined the formation of periodontal pockets accompanied, or not, by gingival recession. The etiological factor and the initiators of the disease are microorganisms and their by-products which cause dysbiosis and an exacerbated host inflammatory response. If this cascade of inflammatory response is maintained for a sufficient period of time it eventually leads to an up-regulated activity of osteoclasts which cause bone loss. Considering the worldwide health burden of this pathology and the many associations and interdependencies with a multitude of other systemic diseases epidemiological analysis have had a pivotal task in aiding the discovery and implication of risk factors for the disease. Furthermore, such studies further the field by assessing the treatment necessities of populations and can offer insight to health regulators.