Oral health of 20 to 64 years old military insured's measured by DMFT index: A pilot study

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the oral health status, as well as influence of general and local factors that may affect the level of oral health. Patients and methods: We have done a prospective cross-sectional pilot study (observational type) with 52 examinees (32 men and 20 women), mean age 40.4±12.7 years. We analyzed all categories of military insured's between 20 and 64 years of age. They were divided into three age groups: 20-34, 35-44 and 45-64 years. The study was conducted in the Department of Military Health Care, Pancevo, Serbia. Results: There were 25 examinees (48.1%) between 20 and 34 years of age. Majority of the examinees used simple sugars (90.4%) and fizzy drinks (63.5%) in their diet at least once a week. Majority of the examinees did not use mouthwashes (76.9%), interproximal brushes (86.5%) or dental floss (73.1%). Examinees who did not use dental floss, had significantly higher decayed, missing and filled teeth index (DMFT index) (U=130; p=0.05). About half of the examinees experienced bleeding from gums during tooth brushing (24; 46.2%). Majority of the examinees had bad teeth brushing technique (82.7%). The average value of DMFT index in all examinees was 15.69±4.80, and there was no significant difference between the age groups (F=1.945; p=0.154). However, there were significant differences between the age groups in missing teeth (F=9.700; p=0.000). The highest average value of missing teeth was in the group of 35-44 years olds (6.56±3.88). Conclusions: Although there was high level of awareness among the examinees about the influence of oral health to general health, majority of them had high value of the DMFT index.