ABSTRACT
A pilot study of the presenting
complaints and clinical findings has been conducted on a sample
of 1633 Jordanians, aged 16-98 years, who attended the oral
diagnostic clinic at the dental school, University of Jordan,
Amman, for the years 1993-1995. These subjects were interviewed
regarding their age, sex, area of residence and chief complaint.
They were subsequently clinically examined by the author. The
majority of subjects presented with toothache (37%) and tooth
loss (26%). A greater number of females complained of
unidentified oral pain and malaligned teeth than males. The oral
health status was generally poor, 7.4% of the population were
edentulous, while 92.6% were dentate of whom 71% had carious
teeth, 26.4% had at least one tooth missing, 11.4% had
malocclusion was detected in 3.4%. Assessment of periodontal
conditions revealed that 71.5% of the dentate subjects had
gingivitis and 10.9% had periodontitis. The number of females
with partial tooth loss, malocclusion, and those needing pulpal
care were greater than males, soft tissue pathology was detected
in 1.6% of the sample population.
This study showed that the
majority of subjects examined (99.7%) needed some type of
treatment. The high prevalence of oral disease among Jordanians,
particularly caries and gingivitis, suggests that dental health
services in Jordan need to be evaluated. Primary health care
programmes are required. Planned research studies regarding
treatment needs of different population groups should be
conducted. |