COMPARATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF DENTAL CARIES AND ITS COMPLICATIONS IN CHILDREN OF POLTAVA REGION

Abstract

Despite the high level of development of dental technologies, caries, and its complications occupy a leading place in the structure of dental pathology in children nowadays. This is a difficult social, scientific, and practical problem, which determines the relevance of this research.
 The aim of the study was to carry out a comparative analysis of caries and complicated caries indices of children in Poltava and the suburb.
 Materials and methods. A dental examination was carried out on 905 children 8-10 years old who studied in schools of Poltava and the suburbs. We determined the following indicators in children: the intensity of caries according to decay-missing-filled (DMF) indices in permanent, temporary, and deciduous teeth, the intensity and prevalence of complicated caries, and the need for treating.
 Research results and their discussion. Our epidemiological research work evidence that there is no statistically significant difference in the intensity of caries according to the DMF index between children in Poltava and in the suburb (p≥0.05). They were statistically significant in the comparison between the indicators of the gymnasium in the village Rozsoshentsy and schools in villages Shcherbany and V. Trostyanets and educational establishments of Poltava (р≤0.05).
 At the same time, the intensity and prevalence of complicated caries is statistically higher (p≤0.05) in children from suburbs, than in children from Poltava. The difference was statistically significant when comparing all groups, except indicators between the gymnasium in the village Rozsoshentsy and school № 10 in Poltava (р≤0.05).
 Conclusions. We can explain it by the low level of dental awareness of the Ukrainian population, and the closure of dental offices in schools. It leads to the impossibility of constant monitoring of dental health in children.