• Ali AlGhamdi, Ammar Almarghlani, Rusha Alyafi, Wael Ibraheem, Mohammad Assaggaf, Mohammed Howait, Loai Alsofi, Arwa Banjar, Mohammad Al-Zahrani, and Rayyan Kayal.
• From the Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
• Ann Saudi Med. 2020 Jan 1; 40 (1): 7-14.

BackgroundThe occurrence of periodontitis is rather infrequent in children and adolescence and increases with age. We conducted this study because there have been few epidemiological studies on prevalence of periodontitis in children in Saudi Arabia.ObjectiveDetermine the prevalence of periodontitis in high school children in Saudi Arabia.DesignCross-sectional, using cluster and multistage sampling.SettingHigh school children in Saudi Arabia.Participants And MethodsPeriodontal examinations were conducted on a randomized sample of high school children between the ages 15 to 19 in Saudi Arabia. The study spanned from September 2012 to January 2016. Clinical examinations included measurements of the probing depth (PD) percentage of PD ≥4 mm per patient.Main Outcome MeasuresThe prevalence of periodontitis (PD ≥4 mm and CAL ≥1 mm), the mean percentage PD ≥4 mm, the mean percentage CAL ≥1 mm, plaque index (PI) and gingival index (GI).Sample Size2435 high school students.ResultsOf 2435 high school children in the sample, 209 students (8.6%) had periodontitis. The mean (standard deviation) for the PD was 0.59 (0.17) mm. Differences in percentage PD ≥4 mm and CAL ≥1 mm were greater in students with periodontitis ( P<.001). The prevalence of periodontitis was higher among non-Saudis, students who did not brush their teeth and did not visit their dentist regularly. In the bivariate analysis, periodontitis was positively associated with GI, PI, number of teeth extracted, mean percentage PD ≥4 mm, and mean PD. However, in the multivariate analysis, tooth brushing was the main factor protective against periodontitis (odds ratio: 0.62, 95% CI 0.42-0.92, P=.017).ConclusionPeriodontitis prevalence was high compared with Western countries in a nationally representative sample of high school students in Saudi Arabia.LimitationsPartial mouth study design, which may underestimate the disease prevalence.Conflict Of InterestNone.

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