Caries prevalence in a 7- to 15-year-old Albanian schoolchildren population Original article

Summary The aim of this study was to determine the caries prevalence in urban and suburban Albanian schools. A large sample (n= 2617) of subjects, aged 7-15, was examined by a clinical observation without radio-grams. The sample comprised 1257 males and 1360 females. For each subject an anamnestic question- naire about feeding, fluoride, dentist attendance and familiar informations was obtained. Gender and age differences were compared by Chi-square test. The total dmft index (decayed, missing and filled teeth in deciduous dentition) was 2.082; dmft in males was 2.137, in females was 2.032. The total DMFT index (Decayed, Missing and Filled Teeth in permanent dentition) was 2.327; DMFT in males was 2.253, in females was 2.396. Decayed teeth was principal component of both dmft and the DMFT index. Car-ies prevalence results higher in girls than boys in deciduous and in permanent teeth.Key words: prevalence of caries, oral hygiene hab-its, Albanian schoolchildren.Introduction Dental caries is an infective transmittable bacterial dis-ease characterised by a multifactorial pathology; it is a preventable disease and it can be stopped and even po-tentially reversed during its early stages. People remain susceptible to the disease throughout their lives (12, 19). It is widely accepted that factors such as socioeconomic status, educational level, and behavioural factors (e.g. usual reasons for dental attendance, frequency of tooth cleaning and use of additional methods for tooth clean-ing like flossing) have an effect on oral health (5).In the developed countries, decline in dental caries prevalence has been attributed to population-based preventive programmes with use of fluoride, improved partecipation in oral health programmes and changes in oral hygiene and sugar intake habits. On the other hand, in many developing countries an increase in dental car-ies has resulted from unhealthy dietary habits, limited use of fluoride and poor access to oral health services. In many developing countries, most oral health services provide symptomatic treatment with little priority given to restoration and prevention. The urbanisation and adop-tion of Western lifestyles into many developing countries in the absence of public prevention programmes have also caused a sudden increase in dental caries. Dental caries affects 60-90% of schoolchildren in most devel-oped countries, and in several developing countries the prevalence rates are increasing (2). Many epidemiologi-cal studies on the prevalence of caries in different ethnic groups have been published in the last years. They re-ported a prevalence of caries that varied in the different populations (4, 6, 7, 11, 14). Epidemiological surveys to monitor the changes in oral health status have not been conducted in Albania on a regular basis or by specialised institutions. Sporadic studies by the dental school or by people who are con-ducting research for higher degrees have been under-taken. The data from the last epidemiological study con-ducted in 2000 (using WHO indicators and age-groups) are: 6 years old (caries free 83.7%), 12 years old (DMFT 3.02), 18 years old (DMFT 4.7). Other national studies of dental caries experience for 12-year-olds indicated that in 2005 the national mean Decayed, Missing, or Filled Teeth (DMFT) index was 3.1. A more recent study shows DMFT 3.8 in a 12 years old schoolchildren pop-ulation (9). The data show worse oral health status in children compared with the situation before 1990. Rea-sons for higher oral disease prevalence are: increases in consumption of refined foods and fizzy drinks and of a wide variety of sweets, under utilisation of fluoride sup-plements or sealants, the lack of widespread and regular use of toothbrushes and fluoride toothpaste, the lack of dental health education and promotion, the privatisa-