Dental Caries Experience among 12 Year Old School Children from Macedonia and India

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to compare the dental caries status of the 12 year old children of the eastern region of Macedonia and Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir state of India. Material and Method: In this comparative study (N=396) 12-year old children from Macedonia and 592 from India were included. Dental status of participants was evaluated using the 2013 World Health Organization caries diagnostic criteria for Decayed, Missing or Filled Teeth (DMFT) by 2 calibrated examiners in Macedonia and by the single examiner in India. Results: The mean value of the DMFT index for the whole sample of India was 1.91 ± 1.76 whereas for Macedonia it was 3.46 ± 2.90, and the difference was statistically significant (p<0.001). In the Indian sample, 152 (25.68%) and in Macedonia sample 81 (21.46%) of the individuals were caries free (DMFT=0).In both countries, the female children have higher mean DMFT values. The filled component of DMFT was more among the Macedonian children which shows the higher utilization rates of dental care in that region in comparison to Indian counterparts. Conclusion: The mean DMFT of children from Macedonia was higher in comparison with children from India. The most possible reason for this can be the fact that sugar consumption in India was less in comparison with Macedonia. of the Republic of Macedonia consists of just 8 non-administrative units-statistical regions and 84 municipalities as administrative units [6], whereas India has 29 states and 7 union territories. But the currency rate of two countries are almost similar with Macedonian Denar is marginally higher than Indian Rupee. For the current study, Eastern region of Macedonia is taken and Budgam district from Jammu & Kashmir district of India. The reason of for taking these two sites is that in Macedonia, there are couple of programs concerning oral health of children-National Caries Preventive Program and National Strategy of Prevention of Oral Diseases in children at age 0-14years [7]. In India there is no nationwide government funded preventive program regarding oral health but state of Jammu & Kashmir state runs a school health program which comprises dental health and is envisaged as an important tool to provide preventive, primitive and curative health services to the children. The East Region is mainly a mountainous region and comprises the extreme East of the Republic of Macedonia. It spreads along the Bregalnica River, over the basins of Shtip, Maleshevo and Pijanec and the field of Kochani. The region comprises 14.2% of the total area of the Republic of Macedonia, with 8.7% of the total population in 2011, and it is one of the least densely populated regions with 50.7 citizens per km 2. On the other hand Budgam is one of the newly formed districts of the Jammu and Kashmir state, situated at an average height of 5,281 feet above sea-level. The topography of the district is mixed with both mountainous and plain areas. The total population of the district is 7.35 Lacks with a literacy rate of 57.98%. The density of popu...

Dental Caries Prevalence and Oral Health Status among 15-Year- Old Adolescents in Kosovo

“…The results concerning gender showed that boys had higher DMFT index values compared to girls. Those results are corresponding with previous reports ( 23 - 25 ), but the values were higher than those in studies conducted by others ( 26 - 32 ), and considerably lower than reported in other studies ( 33 - 37 ). Such high values can be explained by the deficiency of national preventive programs, the shortage of dentists in schools, as well as the lack of preventive and educational measures in Kosovo.…”