Analysis of a Questionnaire Survey Administered to Determine the Periodontal Condition

Abstract

Periodontal disease is an infectious disease that occurs at a high prevalence, although many periodontitis patients do not have any subjective symptoms and the disease often goes untreated. Recognition of periodontitis in its early (mild) stage is extremely useful for effective treatment and prophylaxis. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to identify appropriate questions to be asked in the screening for periodontal disease.

We enrolled 990 patients with cardiovascular diseases from Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital for this study from 2012 to 2015. The subjects were given a self-administered questionnaire to describe their periodontal condition. Clinical periodontal examination was performed to determine the probing pocket depth (PPD), clinical attachment level (CAL), and bleeding on probing (BOP) as a clinical periodontal examination.

We found that the patients who answered "yes" to the questions, "Do you think you have gum disease?", "Do you feel your teeth are unstable?" and "Have you ever been told by a dental specialist that you have lost bone around your teeth?", had statistically significantly higher frequencies of unfavorable results of examination for PPD, CAL and BOP. They also had a higher frequency of deep periodontal pockets of 4 mm or more.

The results indicated the validity of the questionnaire for the screening of periodontitis patients.