Marked increase in Korea’s gum disease patients

The number of periodontal disease patients and medical expenses in Korea has increased significantly over the past five years, according to the National Health Insurance Corporation.

The Corporation made the announcement based on the health insurance treatment status of periodontal disease (periodontitis) from 2016 to 2020 using health insurance treatment data on the occasion of ‘Gum Day’ on 24 March.

The number of medical examinations had increased by 1.89 million from 11.09 million in 2016 to 12.98 million in 2020, with an average annual increase rate of 4.0%.

Male gum disease patients increased by 16.4% from 5.56 million in 2016 to 6.47 million in 2020, while female patients jumped by 17.7% from 5.53 million in 2016 to 6.51 million in 2020.

In 2020, patients in their 50s had accounted for 22.4% of those suffering from periodontal disease.

Studying the composition of the number of patients treated by age group for ‘periodontal disease’ as of 2020, those in their 50s accounted for the highest proportion with 22.4% of the total number of patients, and those in their 60s accounted for 19.6% (2.54 million).

Patients in their 40s accounted for 17.0% (2.2 million people). There were 12.98 million patients who suffered from periodontal disease in 2020.

Total medical expenses for ‘periodontal disease’ in 2020 came to 1.45 trillion Korean Won.

The number of ‘periodontal disease’ patients per 100,000 population by year had jumped from 21,851 in 2016 to 25,282 in 2020, an increase of 15.7%.

The total medical cost of health insurance due to ‘periodontal disease’ increased 43.4% (440.8 billion won) from 2016 to 1.456.4 trillion won in 2020, with an average annual increase rate of 9.4%.