Prevalence of periodontal abscesses among patients suffering from chronic periodontitis in Iraq

Abstract EN

Little information is available regarding the prevalence and distribution of periodontal abscesses.

The aim of this cross-sectional study is to provide more information about the prevalence and distribution of periodontal abscesses and its relation to other periodontal variables in order to help in the characterizing of the periodontal abscesses in relation to periodontitis.

Materials and method : 105 periodontally affected patients were examined 57 male and 48 female the mean age was 43 yrs.

Seventeen subjects were diagnosed with periodontal abscesses (10 male and 7 female) their mean age was 59 yrs.

The periodontal abscesses were studied by the assessment of clinical variables including both subjective (pain, redness, swelling and edema) and objective (bleeding on probing, pocket depth and plaque index).

Results : It was clear that the prevalence of periodontal abscesses increase with age in both sexes but it was higher in male (10 patients) than female (7 patients) all periodontal abscesses were associated with deep periodontal pocket where the mean pocket depth was (10.7 mm ) in male and (9.7 mm ) in female, also all periodontal abscesses presented with bleeding on probing, most of abscesses scored as "severe" acute stage 90% in male and 85.72 % in female, all male patients affected with periodontal abscesses were smokers, examined patients were presented with abundant amount of plaque accumulation reflect the negligence in oral hygiene care.

The mostly affected teeth were anterior teeth then premolar and molar teeth equally.

Conclusion : the periodontal abscesses have clear characteristics and they are usually associated with sever periodontal destruction including deep pocket and bleeding on probing also they are correlated with smoking habit and plaque accumulation, their prevalence increase with age and it is higher in male than female.