Relation Between Periodontitis and Systemic Health Among Young Dental Practitioners in Twin Cities of Pakistan

The study aims to investigate the awareness of the relationship between periodontitis and systemic diseases among young dental practitioners working in private dental hospitals of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan. This will help in identifying the knowledge gap and accordingly modify the training of house officers in the periodontology department and hence improve their patient management in the future.The cross-sectional study was carried out among 190 house officers after attaining permission from the six respective dental hospitals in twin cities of Pakistan. Written consent was taken, and a questionnaire was filled out by the participants. A score of 1 was given for each correct answer and the level of awareness was categorized as poor (0-3), fair (4-6), and excellent (7-8). Data was entered and analyzed using SSPS version 23. Percentages were calculated for the levels of awareness and each question respectively. Results demonstrated that 61(32.1%) of house officers possessed poor, n=109(57.4%) possessed fair and 20(10.5%) possesses excellent awareness regarding the relationship between periodontitis and systemic disease. About 146(76.8%) house officers were aware of bidirectional relationships whereas only 50(26%) house officers were aware regarding the relation of periodontitis with atherosclerosis. More than half of the house officers showed fair awareness regarding the relation of periodontitis to systemic disease. Further analysis revealed that the majority were not aware of the relation between periodontitis and atherosclerosis. Knowledge about the indication of antibiotics for the treatment of periodontitis in diabetic patients was also lacking.