Gingival health among individuals on Hemodialysis in a Saudi population

Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, P.O. Box 60169, Riyadh 11545, KSA Phone : +966-1-4628367 Fax : +966-1-4628367 Email: fatassi@ksu.edu.saThe purpose of the study was to evaluate the gingival health status among patients on hemodialysis. Ninety Saudi patients on hemodialysis participated in the study, and were divided into three subgroups of those who have been on dialysis for 1) less than one year; 2) 1 to 3 years; and 3) for more than 3 years. Four indices: the debris index (DI); the calculus index (CI); the plaque index (PlI) and the gingival index (GI) were used. Data were analyzed using one way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The means of debris index were 1.65, 2.07, and 2.15, with SD± 0.67, 0.47 and 0.48 respectively for the subgroups.The means of plaque index were 1.72, 2.16 and 2.26, with SD±0.64, 0.36 and 0.42 respectively for the revealed groups. The means of calculus indexwere 1.58, 2.02 and 2.09, with SD± 0.58, 0.28 and 0.39 respectively for the subgroups. The means of gingival indexwere 1.43, 2.97 and 2.06 with SD± 0.67, 0.38 and 0.35 for the subgroups respectively. Results showed a 100% prevalence of mild to moderate gingivitis. Tukey`s post hoc test showed significant difference in all indices between the 1st and 2nd subgroups, and between the 1st and 3rd subgroups, while no significant difference was found between 2nd and 3rd subgroups. It was concluded that periodontal disease is prevalent in renal dialysis patients who showed unacceptable level of oral hygiene and whichmay increase with the chronicity of the illness