Introduction: The objective of this study was to determine if there are sex differences in severity and risk factors in the development of dental caries and periodontal disease.
Methods: We performed a retrospective cross-sectional study by reviewing medical records of 621 patients at
the Faculty of Dentistry of the Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia in Pasto, Colombia, during 2008 and 2013. The COPD and ICDAS II index were obtained to determine the severity of dental caries and the CPITN Index to evaluate periodontal disease. A descriptive analysis was performed, and the association between dental caries and periodontal disease as well as the risk factors were evaluated using generalized linear models.
Results: the mean COPD was slightly higher in women (20.97 ± 6.01) than in men (20.59 ± 5.47) (P = 0.191).
There was difference in teeth lost in males (4.85 ± 4.54) and females (6.12 ± 5.64) (P = 0.020). We found that
12.8% of men and 10.2% of women had periodontal pockets ≥6mm (P = 0.136). The presence of diastemas (OR = 2.881, 95% CI: 1.479-5.613, P = 0.002) and gingival bleeding (OR = 40.263, 95% CI: 7.851-206.484, P <0.001) were significantly associated with periodontal disease (OR = 2.859, 95% CI: 1.046-3.304, P <0.034) had an influence on this disease in women (OR = 2.059, 95% CI: 1.387-3.055, P <0.001).
Conclusion: the retrospective cross-sectional study design is limited, but offers a promising avenue for future
explorations. The results have implications for promoting differences in sex in oral health care.
Keywords:
dental caries, periodontal disease, sexual characteristics, risk factors, epidemiology