Cent Eur J Public Health 2013, 21(1):39-42 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3752

Dental Caries Experience in Croatian Schoolchildren in Primorsko-Goranska County: A Pilot Study

Nataša Ivančić Jokić1, Danko Bakarčić1, Suzana Janković2, Giulia Malatestinić2, Jagoda Dabo2, Martina Majstorović3, Vanja Vuksan4
1 School of Medicine, Department of Paediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics, University of Rijeka, Clinical Hospital Center Rijeka, Croatia
2 School of Medicine, Public Health Teaching Institute of Primorsko-Goranska County, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia
3 School of Dental Medicine, Department of Paediatric Dentistry, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
4 Dental Polyclinic, Zagreb, Croatia

Background: Dental caries as an infectious disease is still a major oral public health issue. As documented in some recent studies, it has been recognized as the most common chronic childhood disease.

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate caries prevalence, DMFT and dmft scores, as opposed to caries free children at the age of 6 years from a well developed western region of Primorsko-Goranska county. The purpose was also to evaluate a Significant Caries Index (SiC) and a Restoration Index (RI) in the same study sample of 6 year olds.

Methods: Data for a sample of 1,825 (868 girls and 957 boys) children was collected and analyzed by using Chi-square and Mann-Whitney U Tests.

Results: Results showed that the mean dmft was 4.68±4.19, and the mean DMFT was 0.22±0.69. D/d component constituted a major part of caries score (DMFT/dmft) in both primary and permanent dentitions in the population of 6 years old children. Caries prevalence was 74.5 in primary dentition and 11.9 in permanent dentition. Significant Caries Index value (SiC) was 0.66 for permanent and 9.6 for primary teeth, respectively. The Restoration Index (RI) was 20.1 for primary and 39.5 for permanent dentition.

Conclusion: The results obtained in this study revealed that dental caries still appears to be quite a significant problem among 6 year olds. However, collected data, particularly considering the SiC Index, can be used for further planning of preventive and restorative dental treatments as well as setting up future goals for the prevention of dental caries in Croatian school children of Primorsko-Goranska county.

Keywords: dental caries, epidemiology, dmft, DMFT, Significant Caries Index, Restoration Index

Received: December 28, 2011; Revised: December 18, 2012; Accepted: December 18, 2012; Published: March 1, 2013  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Ivančić Jokić N, Bakarčić D, Janković S, Malatestinić G, Dabo J, Majstorović M, Vuksan V. Dental Caries Experience in Croatian Schoolchildren in Primorsko-Goranska County: A Pilot Study. Cent Eur J Public Health. 2013;21(1):39-42. doi: 10.21101/cejph.a3752. PubMed PMID: 23741899.
Download citation

References

  1. Alvarez-Arenal A, Alvarez-Riesgo JA, Peña-Lopez JM, FernandezVazquez JP. DMFT, dmft and treatment requirements of schoolchildren in Asturias, Spain. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 1998 Jun;26(3):166-9. M F Total p** Caries prevalence primary teeth 75.3 73.6 74.5 0.405 Caries prevalence permanent teeth 11.4 12.4 11.9 0.510 RI primary teeth 18.9 21.5 20.1 0.167 RI permanent teeth 40.8 37.2 39.5 0.116 Go to original source...
  2. García-Cortés JO, Medina-Solís CE, Loyola-Rodriguez JP, Mejía-Cruz JA, Medina-Cerda E, Patiño-Marín N, et al. Dental caries' experience, prevalence and severity in Mexican adolescents and young adults. Rev Salud Publica (Bogota). 2009 Jan-Feb;11(1):82-91. Go to original source...
  3. Maserejian NN, Tavares MA, Hayes C, Soncini JA, Trachtenberg FL. Prospective study of 5-year caries increment among children receiving comprehensive dental care in the New England children's amalgam trial. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2009 Feb;37(1):9-18. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
  4. Cheng NF, Han PZ, Gansky SA. Methods and software for estimating health disparities: the case of children's oral health. Am J Epidemiol. 2008 Oct 15;168(8):906-14. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
  5. World Health Organization. Oral health surveys: basic methods. 3rd ed. Geneva: WHO; 1987.
  6. Bratthall D. Introducing the Significant Caries Index together with a proposal for a new global oral health goal for 12-year-olds. Int Dent J. 2000 Dec;50(6):378-84. Go to original source...
  7. Nishi M, Stjernswärd J, Carlsson P, Bratthall D. Caries experience of some countries and areas expressed by the Significant Caries Index. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2002 Aug;30(4):296-301. Go to original source...
  8. Mady L, Bakarčić D, Ivančić N. National pilot study of caries prevention and oral health promotion, Primorsko - goranska county. In: 5th Dentist counseling on northwest Croatia with international participation; 2001 Sep 29; Čakovec, Croatia.
  9. Jurić H, Klarić T, Lulić-Dukić O. Caries incidence in children with regard to their oral hygiene habits and past caries experience. Acta Stomatol Croat. 2003;37(3):341.
  10. Ivancić Jokić N, Majstorović M, Bakarcić D, Katalinić A, Szirovicza L. Dental caries in disabled children. CollAntropol. 2007 Mar;31(1):321-4.
  11. Cahen PM, Obry-Musset AM, Grange D, Frank RM. Caries prevalence in 6- to 15-year-old French children based on the 1987 and 1991 national surveys. J Dent Res. 1993 Dec;72(12):1581-7. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
  12. Marthaler TM, O'Mullane DM, Vrbic V. The prevalence of dental caries in Europe 1990-1995. ORCASaturday afternoon symposium 1995. Caries Res. 1996;30(4):237-55.
  13. Ivanković A, Lukić IK, Ivanković Z, Radić A, Vukić I, Šimić A. Dental caries in postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2003 Apr;31(2):100-4. Go to original source...
  14. Emerich K, Adamowicz-Klepalska B. Dental caries among 7-year-old children in northern Poland, 1987-2003. Public Health Rep. 2007 JulAug;122(4):552-8. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
  15. Menghini G, Steiner M, Marthaler T, Helfenstein U, Brodowski D, Imfeld C, et al. Caries prevalence among students in 16 Zurich districts in the years 1992 to 2000. Schweiz Monatsschr Zahnmed. 2003;113(3):267-77. (In German.) Go to PubMed...