Awareness of the Presence of Dental Caries and Gingival Inflammation in Young Adult Males

A comparison was made of the caries prevalence and gingival conditions of 167 Army recruits as assessed by themselves and as determined through a detailed clinical and radiographic study. the results showed that the subjects were surprisingly well aware of the amount of caries in their teeth while their knowledge of gingivitis and its symptoms was close to nil. Clinically gingivitis and gingival bleeding was found in all subjects. However, only 2 % of the examinees were aware of their gingivitis in spite of the fact that as many as 46 % had noticed gingival bleeding. In an earlier study the toothbrushing frequency of the same subjects was found to be low. It was now suggested that an improved general knowledge of gingivitis and its symptoms, of the close correlation between poor oral hygiene and gingival inflammation, and of the reversible character of incipient gingivitis might result in an essential improvement in the general standard of oral hygiene. This, in turn, would also decrease the caries susceptibility of the teeth.