Prevalence,severity,and risk indicators of gingival inflammation in a multi-center study on South American adults: A cross sectional study

Objectives: the aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence and severity of gingival inflammation and associated risk indicators in south american adults. material and methods: multi-stage samples totaling 1,650 adults from porto alegre (brazil),tucumán (argentina),and santiago (chile) were assessed. the sampling procedure consisted of a 4-stage process. examinations were performed in mobile dental units by calibrated examiners. a multivariable logistic regression model was utilized for associating variables as indicators of gingival inflammation (gi) (gingival index ≥0.5). statistical significance was set at 0.05. results: a total of 96.5% of the adults have gi. regarding the severity of gi,22.5% of participants examined have mild gi,74.0% have moderate gi,and 3.6% have severe gi. the multivariate analyses identify the main risk indicators for gi as adults with higher mean of calculus index (or=18.59); with a visible plaque index ≥30% (or=14.56); living in santiago (or=7.17); having ≤12 years of schooling (or=2.18),and females (or=1.93). conclusions: this study shows a high prevalence and severity of gingival inflammation,being the first one performed in adult populations in three cities of south america. © 2016,faculdade de odontologia de bauru. all rights reserved.