Extent and Severity of Caries Among 12 year-old Students in an Endemic Fluorosis Area in Senegal

The aim of this study was to measure the extent and severity of caries among 12 year-old students in an endemic fluorosis area of Senegal. This was a descriptive and cross sectional study covering 253 elementary school students aged 12 years and attending public, confessional and Franco-Arab schools in the city of Kaolack (Senegal). These students were in grades 4 or 5 and obtained parental permission to participate in the survey. They were selected through a cluster sampling; twenty two clusters were drawn at random. The socio-demographic information, the caries prevalence, the DMFteeth (DMFt) index and the degree of fluorosis were collected. The data was analysed using Epi info with a significance level of 5%. Girls constituted 54.2% of the sample; students in public schools were 46.8% and those in confessional schools were 31.23%. The prevalence of dental caries was 28.1%; the DMFt mean was 0.52 (sd 0.41), while 90.5% of the school population were affected by fluorosis. The prevalence of caries was significantly higher in the Franco-Arab schools than in confessional and public schools with a p-value = 0.0105. The caries prevalence and the mean DMFt remain relatively low in an area where 9/10 of the school population were affected by fluorosis. Prevention programs based on inequalities related to the types of schools are an efficient strategy to fight dental caries in the city of Kaolack.