Prevalence and structure of periodontal tissue diseases in the military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine depending on age and duration of stay in the combat zone

Abstract

Introduction. War has a negative impact not only on a person's mental health, but also manifests itself in an increase in the incidence and prevalence of pathology of organs and systems of the body, including the dentition. Studies carried out on people who have taken an active part in hostilities, as well as on victims of war, indicate a high level of somatic diseases and psychological disorders. The literature of recent years has not sufficiently addressed the issue of periodontal diseases in military personnel actively involved in hostilities, which determines the timeliness and relevance of our study. Objective. Тo to determine the prevalence and structure of periodontal tissue diseases in the military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine depending on the age and duration of stay in the combat zone. Materials and methods. At the Department of Pediatric Dentistry of the I. Gorbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University, 202 male patients were examined, including 142 military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (main group) and 60 civilians (comparison group). The age of the subjects ranged from 27 to 60 years, and the length of service in the combat zone ranged from 3 months to 2 years. The clinical examination was carried out according to a standardized scheme, which included a medical history and an analysis of the patients' complaints. The classification of M.F. Danilevsky (1994) with additions by I.S. Mashchenko (2002) was used to assess the condition of periodontal tissues. Results and discussions. The study showed that the prevalence of periodontal diseases was 1.4 times р1<0,01 higher in the main group of patients (military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine) than in the comparison group. It was found that chronic catarrhal gingivitis and localized periodontitis were diagnosed 1.7 times р<0.05 and 3.3 times р<0.01 more often in the comparison group than in the main group. The initial forms of GP were found in approximately the same percentage of subjects: 36.22±4.46% in the main group and 34.28±8.02% in the comparison group, p>0.05. The prevalence of grade II GP was 2.7 times higher in the main group, р>0.01, than in the comparison group. Grade III GP was objectified in 9.49±2.71% of patients in the main group and 8.55±4.72% of patients in the comparison group, p>0.05. Conclusion. Thus, as a result of the studies, it was found that in the patients of the main group, with increasing age and duration of stay in the combat zone, the prevalence of periodontal tissue diseases increased, with the prevalence of generalized periodontitis of initial – II degree in its structure.