52/34 * THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN DENTAL ASSOCIATION.
.
and instruments. Oral conditions were
determined by the use of mouth mirrors,
sharp explorers and pocket measuring
probes and were recorded on the Stand-
ard Dental Form, DD 603. Intraoral
roentgenograms were not taken because
of the patients’ former exposure to
gamma radiation. Graded pHydrion
paper, range 6.0 to 8.0 was used intraorally to record approximate salivary pH
values. Samples of whole saliva, salivary
Fig. 2. ¢ Unilateral narrow maxillary central in-
cisor in 11 year old Majuro boy
slight hemopoietic depression in the
Ailingnae group, most of these people
remained asymptomatic. No effects were
noted in the population residing on
Uterik island.
of
the
1959
medical
English and many were uncertain of their
true age, it was difficult to conduct examinations and obtain vital statistics. These
factors combined to makean ideal blind
system impractical. Consequently, evaluation of recorded data was difficult; it
was impossible to eliminate any biases
perceived by the examiner. The extent of
periodontal destruction in adults was
judged according to the impression re-
PRESENT HEALTH STATUS
Results
calculus and extracted teeth were collected for future radiochemical analyses.
In that few Rongelapese people speak
survey
showed that the Marshallese people had
recovered from the acute effects of radia-
tion exposure and appearedto be in good
health. Previous examining teams con-
cerned with growth and development
studies of Marshallese children were un-
certain as to whether certain anomalies
in dentition and jaw growth, such as
peg-shaped central incisors, supernumer-
ary teeth, variations in malocclusion,
were associated with radiation exposure.
Forthis reason, a dental team was invited
to participate in the 1959 survey. This
factor plus the opportunity to evaluate
and compare oral conditionsin irradiated
and nonirradiated population groupsfive
years after initial exposure form the basis
for this report.
DENTAL SURVEY
OF MARSHALLESE POPULATIONS
initial survey.
Majuro Populations + Before visiting the
irradiated Marshallese populations, several members of the dental team went to
the island of Majuro to examine nonirradiated children participating in current growth and development studies.
Thirty of these children and about the
same number of adults were examined to
gain familiarization with Marshallese
dentition.
A high caries incidence was noted in
the children, and most adults showedevidence of periodontal disease. Many of the
children had retained deciduous crown
fragmentsin the gingival crevice adjacent
to erupting permanent teeth. Bunched
lower incisors with subsequent narrowing
of the mandibular symphysis and prema-
ture loss of deciduous molars were commonly found. Other anomalies noted were
the presence of unilateral narrow perma-
nent maxillary central incisors, (Fig. 2)
and the presence of pigmented hypoplas-
Lot
aw
ewes
PD
Comm
cst
A ee,
Initial dental examinations were conducted as an integral part of the 1959
medical survey, using routine methods
ceived by the evaluator. No DMFsystem
or periodontal index was used in this