• Varaporn Buatongsri
• Yupin Songpaisan
• Naulchavee Hongprasong
• Pratheep Phantumvanit
• Nigel Clarke

Objective  The purpose of this study was to compare the periodontal status of rural and urban Thai population who were at high risk in stress.

Materials and Methods  The cross-sectional study for severe periodontal destructive condition was carried out in over 35 years old Thai population. All first, second molars and central incisors of the total 1167 rural farmers from 4 villages in Payao province and 654 urban bank employees and secondary school teachers in Bangkok were examined using CPITN index. Only those having at least one tooth with CPITN score 4 received a full month examination and answered questionnaires as well as stress index. The data was analyzed by using SPSS software.

Results  It was found that there was 17% of urban population having at least one tooth with CPITN4 while there was 27.9% of rural population. The number of teeth and surfaces of CPITN4 in rural population were higher than those in urban significantly. According to stress index, it was found that both of urban and rural population had high stress. But those in urban had higher stress than those in rural area (93.7% vs 80.2%). There was not significantly higher of CPITN4 teeth in high stress group in urban when compared to those in rural area. However, the number of CPITN4 surfaces in rural population was higher than those in urban area. The most common CPITN4 tooth was the right second molar (54.1%) whereas the lower left incisor was the least effected (3.1%).

Conclusion  The study showed that severe periodontitis was higher in the rural than in urban populations. This seemed to be similar to the destructive periodontal condition between developing and developed countries which has been reported.

(CU Dent J 2002;25:1-7)