Oral Health Assessment in the US within 150 Years

Objectives: To determine the periodontal disease status and caries experience of individuals that lived during the nineteenth century and compare it to the current prevalence from the adult population in the US. Methods: The collection of 100 skulls that belongs to the University of Pittsburgh, School of Dental Medicine was assessed for periodontal disease and caries and compared with data from NHANES III using non-parametric statistical analysis. Results: Of the 100 skulls assessed, 15%, 35%, and 36% were assessed with mild, moderate, and severe periodontal disease, respectively. There are significantly more individuals with moderate/severe periodontal disease (p < 0.001) from the study group than any other NHANES III group and significantly more healthy individuals within NHANES III than the study group (p < 0.001). When the mean DMFT scores of the study group was compared to the NHANES III data, the results indicate no significant difference from the current 16-19-year-olds or 20-39-year-olds. Conclusion: Periodontal health has improved since this population resided, over 150 years ago. However, there is no significant difference in the prevalence of mild periodontitis between the study group and the NHANES III groups. A severe and advanced form of periodontal disease is significantly more common in the study group. On the other hand, Americans between the ages of 16 and 39 have the same prevalence of caries as they did 150 years ago. The proportion of individuals identified that were caries and periodontal disease free among the population that lived during the nineteenth century may correspond to the proportion of the population genetically protected against these two common diseases.