pyorrhoea common?

[TRex]

Playing a 7-by-many game in Your Puzzles and got one with the seed word of pyorrhoea. Is this really a common word?

[mkenuk]

Ignoring the opportunity to make jokes about it being very common among those who don't care for their teeth, I think I would be querying pyorrhoea it if it were to turn up in a normal 7-by-many game.

 

[Alan W]

I agree.

This is a word that has a British spelling and a US spelling. The American version, pyorrhea, is already classed as rare. It seems that this word - however written - has been largely replaced by periodontitis, which we also class as a rare word, rightly so I think.

[TRex]

Thanks, Alan!