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OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between socioeconomic position and periodontal diseases among adolescents. METHODS: Data were obtained from 9203 Chilean high school students. Clinical examinations included direct recordings of clinical attachment level and the necrotizing ulcerative gingival lesions. Students answered a questionnaire on various dimensions of socioeconomic position. Seven periodontal outcomes were analyzed. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify socioeconomic variables associated with the periodontal outcomes. RESULTS: The occurrence of all periodontal outcomes investigated followed social gradients, and paternal income and parental education were the most influential variables. CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrates the existence of significant social gradients in periodontal diseases already among adolescents. This is worrying, and indicates a new potential for further insight into the mechanisms of periodontal disease causation.
López et al. (Thu,) studied this question.