Periodontal Status of the Sandy Bay First Nation in Manitoba

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the periodontal health status of the adult members of the Sandy Bay First Nation in Manitoba, Canada.

Methods: Of the 150 subjects randomly selected, only 107 individuals participated in the study. Face-to-face interviews and oral examinations were performed to assess Debris Index, Calculus Index, Gingival Index and clinical attachment levels. The ANOVA test was used to determine any significant association between different variables and the mean clinical attachment level (statistical significance P<0.05). The Pearson Chi-Square test was used to assess any significant association between variables and the presence of severe periodontitis (P<0.05). All variables showing statistically significant associations with either mean CAL or the presence of severe periodontitis were entered into a linear regression to look for significant independent effects on CAL (P<0.05).

Results: The majority of patients (69.9%) brushed their teeth once/day or more, whereas only 18.8% practiced flossing once/day or more. 42.6% of the patients suffered from moderate periodontitis, whereas only 22.4% suffered from severe periodontitis. Brushing frequency, flossing, calculus index and age were found on bivariate analysis to be significantly associated with severe periodontitis in at least one site. Linear regression analysis showed that of all the variables tested, only age was found to significantly affect the mean CAL.

Conclusion: Almost everyone in the population studied suffered from some degree of periodontitis. As reflected by the poor periodontal health of the population, expanded availability of community-based dental services is urgently needed.