Prevalence and interrelationships of root surface caries in Lufa, Papua New Guinea

abstract This survey of 222 adults aged 18 years and over, in highland communities near Lufa, Papua New Guinea, has revealed that: (1) the prevalence of root caries is much higher than that of coronal caries in persons aged 30 to 39 years; (2) periodontal disease and root caries are statistically strongly associated. These findings confirm one of the study hypotheses that, under certain combinations of etiologic and environmental influences, the prevalence of root caries may equal or exceed the prevalence of coronal caries, and furthermore, they strongly support the other study hypothesis that certain dietobacterial plaque infections are not conducive to highly active coronal lesions but are associated with periodontal lesions and radicular cavitation.     

A correlation study of diet, oral hygiene and dental caries in 457 Canadian children

The interrelationship of diet, oral hygiene and caries was evaluated. Of the sample size of 457 children, 234 were in grade 1 and 223 grade 7. Five-day diet surveys were obtained, followed by clinical examinations for oral hygiene and caries. One examiner, using mouth mirror, explorer and extraoral light, conducted the caries examination. From the diet surveys, refined and total carbohydrate consumption was calculated per day; between meals, at meals, and totaled for the day. Five-day totals, which included one weekend, were recorded along with frequency of eating per day and for the 5-day periods. Computer analysis revealed no significant correlation between the diet variables and caries or oral hygiene indices and caries. The children with high caries indices did not have the poorest oral hygiene nor consume the most carbohydrates. Similarly, the children with low caries indices did not have the cleanest teeth nor consume lesser amounts of carbohydrates.     

Oral health survey in Haitian and Hamburg children aged 12–15

Abstract— Oral hygiene, dental caries and periodontal diseases were surveyed in 1743 children aged 12–15. Of these 879 of Black origin resided in Haiti (West Indies) and 864 of While origin in Hamburg (West Germany). Oral hygiene was assessed using the G reene & V ermillion 'sOHI-S, periodontal status using R amfjord 's PDI and M uhlemann 'S SBI and the caries rate using the DMFT and DMFS indices. Boys of all age groups showed significantly poorer oral hygiene than girls. In the Hamburg children the mean OHI-S was 1.28, in Haitians 1.14. Periodontal diseases showed equal prevalence in Haiti and Hamburg when expressed in PDI, namely 0.59, while SBI was slightly higher in the Haitians, namely 2.58 against 2.21 in the Hamburg children. Hamburg girls showed lower PDI and SBI scores than all boys and Haitian girls. Same degrees of OHI-S caused more severe periodontal diseases among Haitian than among German children. In general, scores of OHI-S, PDI and SBI increased with age except in Haitian girls, who showed a decrease. The DMFT and DMFS of the Haitian children averaged 3.65 and 4.80 respectively, and those of the Hamburg children 8.35 and 21.09.     

Epidemiologic oral health survey of Argentine children

Abstract An epidemiologic oral health survey of 2279 children aged 7–8 and 12–13 was carried out in eight different regions of Argentina using methods and criteria recommended by the WHO. The children examined lived in rural or urban areas and were of Caucasian or Amerindian extraction. Periodontal status showed that 75% of this population had soft deposits, while calculus and gingivitis increased with age. Calculus: 0.4 at 7 yr to 16.1 at 13: gingivitis: 2.7% at 7 yr to 27.2% at 13. At age 8, the mean number of DMF per child was 3.9. The percentage of caries-free children with permanent dentition dropped from 60% at age 7 to 32% at age 13. In Amerindian children, all these parameters were higher. Both the mean DMF and DMF per child were substantially lower in natural fluoride areas than in non-fluoride areas. Data from this first nationwide epidemiologic study in this country provide baseline data for further investigations. According to the data obtained in this study, Argentine regions may be classified as high, medium or low risk areas, although a lack of adequate dental care was found in all regions. With these risk priorities as a guideline, we propose an initial strategy consisting of a carefully planned and selective program of primary dental health care.     

An epidemiologic survey of oral health in Swaziland

An epidemiologic survey of oral health was conducted on 480 schoolchildren and 400 adults in Swaziland. Age groups 7, 14, 20-24 and 35-44 were selected, and nine sampling sites were chosen in various parts of the country. Oral hygiene was generally poor, visible soft deposits being prevalent in all age groups and calculus in adults. Advanced periodontal disease was present in most people over 35 years of age, and intense gingivitis was widespread in all age groups. Dental caries was found to be a common problem, affecting practically every person, in many cases quite severely. There was a tendency towards accumulation of the disease in children. Some geographic variation was found in the prevalence and severity of dental caries and periodontal disease. An additional sample of privileged children was examined, and among these children 14-year-olds showed significantly higher DMFS values than their age mates in the rest of the country. Tooth defects, including fluorosis, and oral mucosal diseases did not seem to constitute severe problems of oral health in Swaziland. On the basis of these data a public dental health program has been initiated which emphasizes prevention.     

Oral health status of adult population in Athens, Greece

An epidemiological study of dental caries, periodontal disease, and oral hygiene status in 736 employed adults aged 19-64 yr, was conducted in Athens, Greece. Dental caries was found to be prevalent, affecting almost the entire population examined. The mean DMFT values varied from 8.99 +/- 5.98 to 17.05 +/- 6.58 in different age groups. No difference was found in the mean DMFT values between sexes. Periodontal disease affected the 92.7% of the examined sample. The PI scores increased with age from 1.08 +/- 0.84 in the age group 19-24 yr to 3.7 +/- 1.84 in the age group 55-64 yr. Women showed lower PI index values than men but this difference was not statistically significant. The mean values of oral hygiene index varied from 1.60 +/- 1.05 to 1.97 +/- 1.42 in different age groups. Women presented better oral hygiene status than men and this difference was statistically significant for the younger age groups. Data concerning the toothbrushing frequency of the examined population are also presented. The results of this baseline study indicate that effective dental care is needed for the improvement of oral health status of the adult population.     

唇腭裂患者口腔健康状况的研究进展

唇腭裂患者的口腔健康状况为近年来的研究热点之一.大量调查表明,唇腭裂患者是龋病和牙周组织疾病的易患人群.其龋病和牙周组织疾病的发生与外科手术、解剖因素、唇腭裂类型因素等密切相关.不同唇腭裂类型的患者口腔卫生状况不一致,不同国家地区的唇腭裂患者的口腔卫生状况也不尽相同.本文就唇腭裂患者的龋病流行特征、牙周疾病特征和口腔卫...     

Effectiveness of a dental education program on oral cleanliness of schoolchildren in Israel

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a dental health education program providing dental health information and toothbrushing instruction on oral cleanliness. Two methods of instruction, individual and group instruction, are presented in this study. The plaque situation was assessed in a group of 175 children, 11-14 years of age, by the Patient Hygiene Performance (PHP) method at the beginning of the study and at 1, 2, and 12 months. It was found that immediately after instruction the dental health education program resulted in improved oral hygiene home care for the two experimental groups. However, the improvement noted was achieved regardless of the method of toothbrushing instruction (individual versus group). Moreover, it was demonstrated that maintenance of a satisfactory level of oral hygiene home care was dependent upon review of educational programs and toothbrushing instruction and not related to the method of instruction.     

Trends in dental health among Icelandic urban children

Caries experience, oral hygiene and caries-related salivary parameters were recorded in a 20% representative sample of 12-year-old schoolchildren in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1991. The majority of the children was re-examined 3 years later in 1994. Trends in prevalence of caries and salivary bacteria were assessed by comparison with an analogous earlier longitudinal study (1984–87). Mean DPS values for 12-year-olds were 12.1 and 4.1, for 15-year-olds 23.3 and 11.3 in the earlier and later study, respectively. Reduction in DPS was 66% and 52% for the respective age groups. The decline was most pronounced in the group with low caries prevalence. Trends in caries experience were paralleled by salivary bacteria. The mean caries scores and frequency distributions of 15-year-olds in 1994 closely resembled those of 12-year-olds a decade earlier, suggesting a delay rather than a true fall in caries prevalence.     

Energy intake, dental caries and periodontal disease in 11-year-old black children in two regions of Southern Africa: KwaZulu and Namibia

Abstract The study examined energy intake in relation to dental caries and periodontal disease in 11-yr-old rural and urban black children in low fluoride areas of KwaZulu and Namibia (0.15 ppm F) and one higher fluoride area of Namibia (1.56 ppm F). Twenty-four hour dietary recalls were conducted by trained interviewers and daily energy intake estimated using the MRC dietary analysis programme. DMFS was recorded according to WHO criteria; periodontal disease was measured using CPITN and SAS was used for statistical analysis. The prevalence of dental caries and periodontal disease (using CPITN), were compared within three energy groupings; ≤850 kcal/day; > 850, < 1400 kcal/day and ≥1400 kcal/day. The rural low fluoride Namibian children had the lowest mean energy intake (616 kcal/day), which also was the grouping with highest healthy periodontal prevalence (65%). The urban groups had higher energy intakes than the rural communities. Statistically significant effects on caries prevalence were seen for country and fluoride grouping; for periodontal disease, significant effects were noted for country, fluoride group and environment. Energy intake had no statistically significant effect, so this is not a risk marker for the disease.     

Factors that effect dental caries status of medical students in Udaipur city,India

To cite this article:
Int J Dent Hygiene
DOI: 10.1111/j.1601‐5037.2009.00399.x
Kumar S, Gupta A, Dixit A, Solanki K, Balasubramanyam G, Duraiswamy P, Kulkarni S. Factors that effect dental caries status of medical students in Udaipur city, India. Abstract: Objective: To evaluate the effect of oral hygiene behaviour, dental anxiety, self assessed dental status and treatment necessity on dental caries status of medical students. Methods: The study was conducted among 345 medical students of Udaipur city, India who had provision for free dental services and the study was based on a questionnaire which consisted of two parts, first part containing questions regarding self assessment of dental status and treatment necessity along with oral hygiene behaviour and the later part comprised of Corah Dental Anxiety scale (DAS). Clinical examination was based on the WHO caries diagnostic criteria. Results: Females perceived greater dental anxiety than males. Individuals claiming poor dental status had higher mean decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) score (6.67) than good (2.89) and fair (4.44). The mean decayed component among the anxious students (5.4) was almost twice that of less anxious (2.77) student population. DAS constituted the first major contributor for missing component followed by smoking status which alone explained a variance of 7.1%. The cumulative variance explained by all the independent variables on the DMFT status accounted to 56.4% with self assessed dental status alone contributing a variance of 44.9%. The most significant (P < 0.001) contributor for filled component was self assessed dental status (14.5%). Conclusions: Oral hygiene behaviour, dental anxiety, self assessed dental status and treatment necessity significantly affected the dental caries status of medical students.     

Dental caries prevalence, tooth brushing and periodontal status in 150 young people in Istanbul: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate periodontal conditions, prevalence and determination of dental caries and oral health behaviours in a group of young people in Istanbul. DESIGN: Subjects were orally examined and questioned. SETTING: A high school in Istanbul. SUBJECTS: One hundred of fifty students. RESULTS: This study showed that 28 per cent of teenagers had adequate oral hygiene. These findings suggest that 72 per cent of the subjects needed oral hygiene education and required restorative dental care. CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that dental treatment need is very high in the sample group. Strong co-operation should be set up between families, schools, communities, regulators and legislators in order to develop and implement comprehensive oral health promotion programmes.     

Periodontal disease and oral hygiene in Arussi province, Ethiopia

A dental health survey was conducted in the Arussi province in Ethiopia. The survey comprised 1,700 persons between 6 and 54 years of age in five age groups from four regions of the province. Findings concerning periodontal disease and oral hygiene are reported in the present paper. The onset of periodontal disease was early, with 60% of the children in the 6-7 year group having gingivitis. In general, periodontal disease was found in a majority of the surveyed population (83%). Severe periodontal destruction was, however, unusual before the age of 30, but at the age of 45-54 years 52% of the sample exhibited pocket formation. The level of periodontal disease in Ethiopia was judged as low to moderate. A close relationship was observed between oral cleanliness and periodontal condition. A possible favorable influence of the diet and traditional oral cleaning methods is conceivable.     

Risk factors of dental caries in 9-10-year-old mentally retarded Finnish children

Abstract Mentally retarded children from one age cohort and their randomly selected controls in one Finnish county were examined for standard of oral hygiene, and their parents and nurses interviewed for information on dental health habits and for other relevant background information. The mentally retarded consumed sugar containing products less frequently than the mentally normal controls. Toothbrushing and fluoride supply was also less common in the retarded than in the healthy. Among the retarded, the dental health habits were most favorable in registered outpatients and least favorable in administratively unknown retarded not included in special welfare. Differences in dental health habits between these subgroups of the retarded were large. In contrast to the findings in the healthy children, frequency of toothbrushing was not associated with the observed standard of oral hygiene in the mentally retarded. The toothbrushing subgroup of the mentally retarded consumed sugar more frequently than the toothbrushing healthy children and commonly used drugs which reduced saliva flow or promoted gingival hyperplasia.     

A study of the dental treatment needs of children with disabilities in Melbourne, Australia

A selected population of children with disabilities in Melbourne, Australia, was studied with reference to their oral disease and treatment needs. A total of 300 children (aged 9-13 years), 150 attending special developmental schools (SDS) and 150 attending special schools (SS), received an oral examination and the parent/guardian completed a questionnaire. Six levels of function were defined, based on the child's independence for five self-care activities (brushing teeth, feeding self, dressing self, walking and performing toilet). The caries experience of children in the SS was lower than in SDS (d + D: 1.3 +/- 1.6 versus 1.5 +/- 2.4; dmft + DMFT: 2.0 +/- 2.3 versus 2.5 +/- 3.1); those attending SDS had higher unmet preventive and restorative needs. Significant associations were seen between the number of decayed teeth, the dmft + DMFT index, and the level of function (p < 0.005). Periodontal disease was prevalent; significant associations were seen between periodontal status, the need for periodontal therapy, and the level of function (p < 0.005). Assessment of the level of function by staff could assist in triaging individuals for urgent dental examination. Despite 41 per cent of children requiring simple treatment, the preventive and treatment needs of many remained unmet. Following examination, diagnosis and treatment planning by a dentist, much of the preventive, simple treatment and oral health promotion could be performed by trained dental auxiliaries. An epidemiological survey followed by the implementation and evaluation of a long-range public dental health care plan for children and adolescents with disabilities is needed urgently.     

Awareness of dental disorders and discrepancy between "objective" and "subjective" dental treatment needs

A dental health survey including an interview, a questionnaire and a clinical examination was conducted among adults aged 25, 35, 50, and 65 yr in Ostrobothnia, Finland. A total of 1275 subjects, 80% of the sample, participated in the clinical examination. 40% of the subjects with at least one dentate sextant had noticed gingival bleeding, 16% gingival inflammation, 20% "gum disease", and 70% at least one decayed tooth. When objectively assessed, a total of 98% had a maximum CPITN code 1-4, 38% a maximum CPITN code 3-4 and 76% were deemed to be in need of fillings. Dentures were objectively non-acceptable in 64% of wearers and subjectively so in 42%. A need for replacing missing teeth was expressed by 14% of the total sample, whereas according to "objective" assessment, 23% had such a need. It is concluded that people tend to underestimate their dental treatment needs, the discrepancy being most distinct in the field of periodontology. Sufficient emphasis should thus be given to improving people's awareness and knowledge of their own dental disorders.     

Prevalence of dental caries, gingivitis, and oral hygiene in hospitalized AIDS cases in Kinshasa, Zaire

The prevalence of dental caries and periodontal disease in African HIV-infected patients has not previously been assessed, in spite of the high prevalence of HIV-infection in some countries and the fact that atypical gingivitis may represent an early sign of HIV infection. In the present study 83 AIDS patients hospitalized in Kinshasa, Zaire, were assessed for dental caries, gingivitis and oral hygiene status. The prevalence of dental caries was lower among AIDS patients than among healthy controls previously examined in the same area. The prevalence of gingivitis was higher in AIDS than in controls in spite of good oral hygiene observed among AIDS patients.