A WHO Pathfinder Survey of Dental Caries in 6 and 12-Year Old Transylvanian Children and the Possible Correlation with Their Family Background, Oral-Health Behavior, and the Intake of Sweets

Abstract

To our knowledge, recent oral health data in Romania is poor, as no comprehensive oral health surveys have been carried out in the last five years. The present cross-sectional oral health survey aimed to assess the dental health status in 6 and 12-year old children from Transylvania, in correlation with their family background, oral-health behavior, and the intake of sweets. The study was conducted on 290 children from nine schools in the Transylvanian region of Romania. The study consisted of the clinical examination of children, recording of data in an International Cavity Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) chart, and a questionnaire referring to the child’s parental education, frequency, and motivation of visits to the dentist, dental care habits, and the intake of sweets. Our results indicated that the most prevalent ICDAS scores recorded in 6-year-old children were “0A” (p = 0.001464), “03” (p = 0.00366), “05” (p = 0.005563), “06” for rural areas. Restorations were statistically more prevalent in the urban population (p = 0.000076). The ICDAS score for 12-year old children was “03” (p = 0.003614) and prevalent in the urban area. The ICDAS score for the rural area was “04” (p = 0.0056). Comparing dental health status with family background demonstrated a strong correlation for the group of 6-year-old children, and a lack of correlation for the 12-year-old children. The number of dental visits corelated with the parents’ backgrounds, and was higher in the urban population. Frequent hygiene habits (toothbrushing) were statistically correlated with lower ICDAS scores: “04” (p = 0.016482), “05” (p = 0.039127), “06” (p = 0.010785). Eating habits in both age groups were associated with statistically significant differences of “03”, “04”, “05”, “06”, “0A” in the ICDAS score. The obtained results provided clarification on the dental health situation in Romania and the potential risk factors of caries among the population, and therefore it could be used as a starter point for future studies to investigate, in depth, the effects of various variables on cavities found in Transylvanian schoolchildren.

Correlation of Caries Prevalence, Oral Health Behavior and Sweets Nutritional Habits among 10 to 19-Year-Old Cluj-Napoca Romanian Adolescents

“…Our study is the most significant done during the last ten years in our country, analyzing a large people group that investigates the dental caries prevalence and the pro cariogenic food intake. Previous studies on the youth age range published similar statistics on 290 subjects, consisting of children and teenagers of different ages (Lucaciu, IJESPH 2020) [40], and 592 teenagers (Baciu, 2015) [14]. Together with nutritional behaviors, our study revealed the still low attendance of dental and medical check-ups in adolescents in our country, with significant consequences in the caries prevalence.…”

SOS teeth with advanced caries and sociodemographic indicators, health-related habits and dental attendance patterns: data from the Dental, Oral, Medical Epidemiological (DOME) nationwide records-based study

“…The current study demonstrated that subjects with SOS teeth are more likely to be residents of rural versus urban, and within urban in Jewish more than in non-Jewish localities. Supporting our results, a recent WHO survey demonstrated that carious lesions are left without treatment mostly in rural areas [ 32 ]. Perinetti et al demonstrated that caries prevalence in the primary and the permanent dentition of school children living in rural areas is significantly higher than that of children living in urban areas, suggesting that in older subjects the urbanization level may become a strong indicator for dental caries [ 33 ].…”

Oral Health in 12- and 15-Year-Old Children in Serbia: A National Pathfinder Study

“…Similar to the findings of the present study, the D component was the major part of the DMFT index in 12-year-old Bosnian children. That was also the finding from the pathfinder survey in the neighboring Romania, especially in children from rural areas [36].…”