The prevalence of periodontal disease and oral hygiene care in Savannakhet Province, Lao People's Democratic Republic.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of periodontal diseases in Savannakhet Province, Lao PDR. This survey was conducted 14 years after the country reformed its economic structure towards the free market. Thirty villages were picked by simple random sampling from a total of 1,560 villages. Two thousand four hundred and fifty-three individuals, aged twelve and over, were interviewed about oral hygiene practice, and were examined for periodontal health status using the community periodontal index of treatment needs (CPITN) index. Forty percent of the sample had regular practices, 56.5% occasional practices and 3.5% were ignorant about oral hygiene. Oral hygiene practices were performed in the morning by using a toothbrush (61.1%) and the index finger (24.8%). The cleaning agent was water alone for 68.6% and salt powder for 28%. The prevalence of healthy gingiva was nearly zero in all age groups. Gingival bleeding was very low. The most common periodontal problem was calculus deposits, found in 3-5 sextants of all age groups. The pocket depth was 4-5 mm on average; however a depth of more than 6 mm was not observed.