Relative contribution of caries and periodontal disease in adult tooth loss among patients reporting to the Institute of Dental Sciences, Belgaum, India.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the reasons for tooth loss in an adult population.
METHODS: Patients who reported to the department of prosthodontics in Institute of Dental Sciences, Belgaum, located in the north-western part of the state of Karnataka, in the southern region of India over a period of 2 months, with at least one missing tooth (excluding third molars) constituted the sample size. There were a total of 365 patients (185 females and 180 males) within the age group of 16-84 years (mean age 51.06 +/- 16.47 years) who fulfilled this criterion. Socio-demographic profile was recorded along with a clinical examination for assessing the number and pattern of tooth loss. The reasons for tooth loss were recorded according to the history reported by the patient.
RESULTS: In the present study of 365 patients, 58.9% of the patients were completely edentulous, 41% were partially dentate, of which 20.8% had lost their teeth from caries, 11% from periodontal disease and 9.3% from a combination of reasons. More females had lost their teeth because of dental caries whereas more males had lost their teeth because of periodontal disease, this being statistically significant. (chi2 = 16.53, p = 0.001). Highly significant results were obtained for age and reasons for tooth loss. (chi2 = 150.39, p < 0.001). Irrespective of the socio-economic status, dental caries was the most common cause for tooth loss in partially dentate patients though it was not statistically significant (chi2 = 13.62, p = 0.325). Mandibular first molars were the teeth most frequently lost due to dental caries. The maxillary left central incisor was most frequently lost due to periodontal disease, followed by the maxillary right central incisor.
CONCLUSIONS: Since both dental caries and periodontal disease contributed to tooth loss at different ages, risk indicators need to be identified.