Periodontal Diseases among the Adult Population of Georgia and the Impact of Socio-behavioral Factors on Their Prevalence

BACKGROUND: Georgia is a country with a Human Development Index (HDI) score of 0.733. Significant deterioration in socio-economic conditions in the 1990s caused serious health problems in the population including oral health. Since then, there has not been an epidemiological survey of dental diseases among the adult population in Georgia. METHODS: The pathfinder survey- cluster- stratified method derived by WHO was used for sampling. Overall, 2370 adults including 1289 women and 1081 men in nine regions of Georgia including the residents of a city, town and village in each region and the capital, Tbilisi, were examined. Four age groups were investigated including: I- (20–34), II-(35–44), III-(45–64), IV- (65–74). RESULTS: Unhealthy periodontal tissues were observed in 66.9% of men and in 57.5% of women. Bleeding on probing occurred in 44.9% of men and 37.2% of women, with periodontal pockets in 46.8% of men and 40.6% of women. Inflammation was seen in 61.2% of men and 54.8% of women. Healthy periodontal tissues were most common (59.2%) in the first age group (20–34); periodontal pockets (0–3mm) were least common (9.8%) at this age. Pockets of ≥4–5mm depth were observed mostly in the 3(rd) (9.4%) and 4(th) (10%) age groups. CONCLUSION: The high prevalence of periodontal diseases in the adult population of Georgia is explained by a low socio-economic status and low medical education background with a negative attitude towards oral hygiene skills and low levels of dental service accessibility.