A recent systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological studies published in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology confirm that periodontitis continues to be an alarming world public health problem, with nearly 62% prevalence in dentate adults as seen from studies performed between 2011 and 2020. Pooled prevalence for moderate to severe cases was 53.2% while for severe periodontitis it was 23.6%. These results show an unusually high prevalence of periodontitis compared to the previous estimates from 1990 to 2010.
There is overall agreement that the prevalence and incidence of periodontitis have been increasing, possibly due to population growth and ageing. Other risk factors contributing to the increase in prevalence of periodontal disease include tobacco use, stress, poor nutrition or obesity, and other systemic diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and other inflammatory conditions.
These results align with this consensus and highlight the need for better periodontal care programs mainly focusing on the poor and socially disadvantaged populations that are disproportionally affected.
