Enfermedades periodontales como un problema de salud pública: el desafío del nivel primario de atención en salud

Abstract

Over the last few years there has been a consensus that the approach of periodontal diseases should be accompanied by a focus on public health, since it is recognised that both gingivitis and periodontitis are major public health problems due to their high prevalence, the obvious damage caused to people, the high cost of treatment, and being preventable. Despite the absence of evidence of representative studies of prevalence of periodontitis, Chile does not escape this reality. However based on existing reports, it can be established that children have a high frequency of gingivitis that increases with age, and the general population has a high inflammatory component in their gums. Meanwhile, in adolescents there is already evidence of destruction of periodontal tissues, measured by loss of clinical attachment level, and this destruction increases significantly in adults and the elderly, and is largely responsible for the loss of teeth in the population. Its main risk indicators include age, gender, education level, socioeconomic status, access to health, and smoking. There is a relationship with chronic non-communicable diseases, and share common risk factors with these. Despite the efforts of the individual approach, there is still a high prevalence of these diseases, suggesting that the approach should be focused more towards strengthening at primary health care level. This should include interdisciplinary and between-speciality tasks, promoting healthy lifestyles, oral hygiene habits, tobacco and dietary counselling, and early detection of disease.