Periodontal conditions in Swiss army recruits: a comparative study between the years 1985, 1996 and 2006 Ro¨thlisberger B, Kuonen P, Salvi GE, Gerber J, Pjetursson BE, Attstro¨m R, Joss A, Lang NP. Periodontal conditions in Swiss army recruits: a comparative study between the years 1985, 1996 and 2006. J Clin Periodontol 2007; 34: 860–866. doi: 10.1111/ j.1600-051X.2007.01124.x. Abstract Aim: To compare the periodontal conditions of Swiss Army recruits in 2006 with those of previous surveys in 1996 and 1985. Material and Methods: A total of six hundred and twenty-six Swiss Army recruits were examined for their periodontal conditions, caries prevalence, stomatological and functional aspects of the masticatory system and halitosis. In particular, this report deals with demographic data, the assessment of plaque index (PlI), gingival index (GI) and pocket probing depth (PPD). Results: Two per cent of all teeth were missing, resulting in a mean of 27.44 teeth per subject, and 77% of the missing teeth were the result of pre-molar extractions due to orthodontic indications. The mean PlI and GI were 1.33 and 1.23, respectively. On average, 27% of the gingival units bled on probing. The mean PPD was 2.16 mm (SD 0.64). Only 3.8% of the recruits showed at least one site of PPDX5 mm, and 1.4% yielded more than one site with PPDX5 mm. In comparison with previous, this survey yielded lower bleeding on probing (BOP) percentages than in 1985, but slightly higher scores than in 1996. This may be attributed to increased PlI scores in 2006. However, PPD remained essentially unaltered from 1996 to 2006 after having improved significantly from 1985. Conclusion: A significant improvement of the periodontal conditions of young Swiss males was demonstrated to have taken place between 1985 and 1996, but no further changes during the last decade were noticed. Key words: army recruits; epidemiology; gingivitis; oral health; periodontal conditions; plaque; prevention; smoking; Swiss Army Accepted for publication 25 June 2007 Conflict of interest and source of funding statement The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests. This study was supported by the Clinical Research Foundation (CRF) for the Promo- tion of Oral Health and the Fund of the University of Berne School of Dental Medicine. Beat Ro ¨ thlisberger, Patrick Kuonen, Giovanni E. Salvi, Jeanne Gerber, Bjarni E. Pjetursson, Rolf Attstro ¨ m, Andreas Joss and Niklaus. P. Lang Dental Services of the Swiss Army, Switzerland School of Dental Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland In Switzerland, where the entire young male population is required to serve in the Army with exception of exemptions due to medical reasons, the recruits represent a cross-sectional sample of the entire socioeconomic structure of the country as well as the geographical distribution of the male population at approximately 20 years of age. In 1970, a group of 556 Swiss Army recruits was examined in an infantry military base (Curilovic ´ et al. 1972, Saxer et al. 1972, German et al. 1973). Later in 1974, another 1119 recruits at the army base of Thun were examined (Ramel 1976) representing a true ran- dom sample of Switzerland with regards to socioeconomic and geographical dis- tribution. In this study, the functional aspects of the masticatory system were especially considered. Eleven years later, in 1985, 757 Swiss Army recruits were examined with respect to their oral health status at the same Army base of Thun. In that survey, the status of dental caries (Menghini et al. 1991) and the functional aspects (Ingervall et al. 1987, Jenni et al. 1987) of the masticatory system were, again, subject to evalua- tion. Additionally, an analysis of bite- wing radiographs was performed (Lang J Clin Periodontol 2007; 34: 860–866 doi: 10.1111/j.1600-051X.2007.01124.x 860 r 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation r 2007 Blackwell Munksgaard