Evaluation of the Dental Health of the Young Adult Male Population in Turkey

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of dental caries in military recruits and to assess the relation of dental caries with socioeconomic and demographic factors, and sugar consumption behavior, and to generalize the findings for the young adult male population to draw a picture of dental health status of this population segment in Turkey. In this cross-sectional study conducted between August and October 2000 in a military basic training center in Turkey, 2,766 male recruits of the age of 20 were examined by dental specialists to determine their mean number of decayed, missing, or filled teeth (DMFT) scores and were administered a questionnaire for capturing their demographic characteristics and sugar consumption behavior. The mean DMFT score for the 20-year-old male population in Turkey was found to be 5.97. DMFT scores were weakly correlated with income level and urbanization. Sugar consumption was strongly correlated with DMFT scores. The mean number of teeth with fillings component was strongly correlated with income level, moderately with the subject's education, and weakly with the mother's education, father's education, and urbanization. DMFT scores for the young adult male population in Turkey were strongly associated with sugar consumption behavior, whereas they were weakly or not at all associated with demographic factors such as education level, income level, and urbanization.

Dental Caries Experience in a Hungarian Police Student Population

“…The present study found that police students whose father had a high school or university education had a lower overall caries experience, with more filled teeth, than those whose father had only primary school education, which is consistent with a number of other studies of military personnel [Senna et al, 2005;Hopcraft et al, 2009]. However, these findings are in contrast with the experiences of Ceylan et al [2004], who examined 2,766 male recruits at the age of 20 in a military basic training centre and could find no or only weak correlations between the educational level of the subjects' mother or father and mean DMFT. At the same time, they did find positive correlations between filled teeth and the income level of the family, and the educational level of the subject and their parents, which supports the findings from the present study.…”

“…Mean DT in the present study (7.8) was more than double that in the above-mentioned national survey with a mean DT of 3.5. In contrast, mean MT was much lower in the present study than in comparable military studies over the past two decades [Ceylan et al, 2004;Senna et al, 2005;Mahoney et al, 2008;Hopcraft et al, 2009].…”

“…This compares poorly with Australian Army recruits (26.5-32.8% caries-free in 2002 for recruits aged 17-25 years, and 20.5-28.0% caries-free in 2008 for recruits aged 17-25 years) [Hopcraft and Morgan, 2005;Hopcraft et al, 2009], and Italian call-up soldiers and cadets (12.5-25.2% caries-free) [Ceylan et al, 2004]. However, only 2.2% of Danish military personnel were found to be caries-free in 1997 [Marker et al, 1997].…”

“…Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel Not only maintaining of good oral health is important for members of the armed forces, it is often an officially mandated requirement for them. There are limited studies in the literature reporting on the oral health of such populations, with data available in the European context on the oral health and treatment needs of Danish military personnel [Marker et al, 1997], Israeli Defence Force members [Horev et al, 2003], Turkish military recruits [Ceylan et al, 2004], Italian call-up soldiers and cadets …”

Geographical Distribution of Dental Caries Prevalence and Associated Factors in Young Adults in Finland

“…In earlier decades, oral health of the Finnish conscripts has been studied by Ankkuriniemi [1979] and Läärä [1999] in their doctoral theses. Service personnel have been used for epidemiological cariology studies also elsewhere [Ceylan et al, 2004;Levin and Shenkman, 2004;Skec et al, 2006;Bastos et al, 2007;Hopcraft et al, 2009;Farago et al, 2012]. General improvement in oral health from the late 1970s to the late 1990s among the conscripts was seen according to Ankkuriniemi [1979] and Läärä [1999].…”