Periodontal Disease – The Bane of Missing Teeth

It has been reported that the prevalence of periodontal disease in China is still higher than that of dental caries. China’s oral health survey of 140,712 people aged 5-74 years in 11 provinces and cities showed that the prevalence of untreated caries at the age of 12 was 42.6%, and the prevalence of periodontal disease was 69.0%; the prevalence of untreated caries between the ages of 35 and 44 was 47.7%, and the prevalence of periodontal disease was 97.2%; and the prevalence of untreated caries between the ages of 67 and 74 was 59.1%, and the prevalence of periodontal disease amounted to 99.4%. In the 65-74 years of age of urban and rural male and female residents, investigated 23452 people, including the whole mouth without a tooth number of 2465 people, accounting for 10.51% of the number of people examined; the average number of permanent teeth containing only 20.27; the number of people containing 20 permanent teeth only accounted for 57.68% of the total number of people examined, containing 22 only accounted for 49.94%, containing 28 only accounted for 11.57%. According to the above data, it is estimated that the number of people over 80 years old in China who have 20 permanent teeth may only be about 35%. The culprit of missing teeth is periodontal disease. Gingivitis and periodontitis have a common symptom, that is, when brushing and eating, the tooth bed is easy to bleed, most of the time there will be red and swollen gums. However, more than 40% of people do not know that bleeding gums is a disease, but even let it happen, and even give up brushing. Forty percent of people have never seen an oral surgeon.