Periodontal treatment needs of a rural population of North East India

In the recent times, health care professionals are giving much importance to the oral hygiene and oral health. This is because of the fact that a number of systemic diseases are interconnected with dental and periodontal diseases. Our rural population is not much aware about the importance of oral health and is still indulging various harmful oral habits. The present study was carried out to assess the periodontal treatment needs of a rural Assam population of North East India to find out the treatment requirements with greater precision and international uniformity by using a WHO index, “Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs (CPITN)”. The collected data were analyzed which shows that majority of the population are suffering from gingival and periodontal diseases and their treatment need increases with their advancing age. The findings in the present study indicates that only extensive Dental Health Education through the grass root level workers of the primary health care system can play a major role in the promotion of periodontal health of our rural community.