Gum recession as a medical and social problem of marine medicine

Introduction. An important role in ensuring the aesthetics of the face and smile is played by the integrity of the teeth, dentition, the absence of dentoalveolar anomalies, as well as periodontal health, including the presence of gum recessions. If there are separate publications for inflammatory periodontal diseases in the crew, then there is no information on the occurrence of gum recessions in the crew.

The aim of the study was to study the incidence of gingival recessions in the crew, to assess the features of their clinical course and the possibility of eliminating them during the voyage.

Material and methods. To identify gingival recessions and the peculiarities of their clinical course after oral sanitation and before a long sea voyage, a dental examination was carried out on 156 men aged 22 to 52 years, who were divided into 2 groups: young (group 1, 105 people) and middle (group 2, 51 people) age. To determine the type of gum recession in the crew, the generally accepted Miller classification was used.

Results and its discussion. The high incidence of gingival recessions among the ship crew was determined, amounting to 33,97%. It was found that gum recessions are more often detected in middle-aged sailors (72,55%) than in young sailors (15,24%). Regardless of the age group of sailors, most often, in 90,57% of cases, there were such clinical forms of gum recessions (I, II and III A classes), with surgical removal of which a favorable treatment result is noted.

Conclusion. The recession of the gums in the ship’s crew is a medical and social problem, which can be solved during a long sea voyage with the presence of a specialist — a dentist-surgeon.