Dentistry

Caries prevalence in 3-5 year old children in private schools in Dubai

23^rd Global Dentists and Pediatric Dentistry Annual Meeting

July 17-18, 2017 Munich, Germany

Maitha Alkhayat

Dubai Health Authority, UAE

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: Dentistry

Abstract:

Dental caries is a multi-factorial infectious disease, which can affect children and adults at any age. Progress of dental caries is faster in primary dentition, as a result of the thinner dental structures both enamel and dentine, along with deferences in mineralization of the primary teeth. Until now there is no data on caries prevalence in 3 and 4 year old children in Dubai and the last available data for 5 year old children date more than a decade ago. Many countries have showed a decline in the dmft values over the years. Introduction: Dental caries is considered the most prevalent chronic disease in the world, which affect individual from all ages. Host acceptability, cariogenic bacteria, fermentable carbohydrates and time are the four elements that are essential for the caries to start. dmft index is a measurement used to determine the degree of caries in any given population, in which it could help in setting aims and strategies to reduce and prevent this disease. Aim: The aim of this study was to estimate the caries prevalence and the value of the dmft index of 3 to 5 year old children of Dubai private schools and its association with demographic factors as age and gender. Methods and Materials: The study was a cross-sectional survey, which examined 3 to 5 year old children, for the presence of caries in their primary dentition. The survey was conducted by three calibrated dentist, who examined the children in the participating schools, in a school class setting using natural light and dental mirrors. Caries were recorded for each primary tooth, following WHO 1987 criteria. dmft and Significant Caries (SiC) Indices were calculated by age, gender and country of origin. Statistical analysis of the data obtained using parametric tests (t-test and ANOVA), to determine the presence of statistical significant differences. Results: Two thousand nine hundred fifty seven children were included in the study. Caries prevalence was found to be 25.6%, 36.8% and 42.2% for the three age groups respectively. dmft value was found to be 0.90, 1.50 and 1.72 for the 3, 4 and 5 year old age groups, with a dmft value of 1.55 for the total surveyed sample. Conclusions: Caries prevalence in three, four and five year old children was 25.6%, 36.8% and 42.2%, respectively. Mean dmft score was 1.55 for the total sample, with a breakdown for each group to be: three year old group 0.90, four year old group 1.50 and five year old group 1.72. Comparison between the age groups showed that the caries prevalence and the SiC index increased as the age increased. The last national survey in 2001 had higher dmft for the 5 year old children in the state of Dubai.

Biography :

Maitha Alkhayat completed her DDS at Ajman University of Science and Technology in 2005 and Master’s Degree in Pediatric Dentistry at European University College in Dubai, in 2015. She is currently practicing as Pediatric Dental Specialist Registrar at Dubai Health Authority, Dubai. Her area of research interest is clinical research and current health awareness and knowledge among the population.

Email: mjalkhayat@hotmail.com