Introduction: Oral diseases qualify as major public health problems, because of their high prevalence and incidence. They usually reach the poor and socially marginalized populations. This study looked at the prisoner's population who is characterized by precarious conditions. Thus the aim of this study was to assess periodontal treatment needs in prisoner's population of Dakar.
Methodology: This was a cross sectional study which interested 375 prisoners living in camp penal, in Prisons for Women in Liberte VI and in Rufisque. The data were collected by a modified WHO sheet. The indicator of periodontal treatment needs (CPITN) was used. Statistical analysis with stratification by sex and age was performed and the tests were significant for p < or = 0.05.
Results: They were 335 men (89.3%) and 40 women (10.7%) with a sex ratio of 8.3. The age mean was 35 years +/- 11.5 with a maximum of 88 years and a minimum of 16 years. The mean stay was 39.29 months +/- 17.7. The proportion of prisoners with a periodontal treatment need increased gradually according to the prison stay with significant differences (P < 0.05) even after stratification.
Conclusion: A more developed and taking into account the environment and the prison stay would reduce the periodontal treatment needs in prisoner's population in Dakar.