Abstract
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.
Highlights
Dental caries is a demineralisation of the hard tissue of the tooth
As for the dental fluorosis condition associated with an excess of fluorine, it is characteriszed by the presence of chalky spots frosted white on the surface of the tooth
Type Setting and Studied Population. This was a descriptive and cross-sectional study that was conducted in elementary schools, in the city of Kaolack situated in the Central West of Senegal
Summary
Dental caries is a demineralisation of the hard tissue of the tooth. It is caused by an acid attack coming from the bacterial metabolism. The host (tooth), the bacterial plaque, food intake and time are the main contributing factors to its occurrence. It affects all layers of the population, children. [1] The prevalence of caries is generally higher in developing countries In schools, it is 77.7% in India [2], 61.9% in Libya [3], 77.2% in the North West of Ivory Coast [4] and 52.1% in Senegal [5]. The objective of this study was to measure the extent and severity of caries among 12 year-old students in an endemic fluorosis area (city of Kaolack) of Senegal
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