Prevalence of Dental Caries among Primary School Attendees in Najran-Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The present study was carried out among school age girls in Najran -Saudi Arabia to assess the prevalence of dental caries and to compare the decayed, missing and filled teeth index (DMFT Index) of two students groups. Furthermore the influences of age, parents education, frequency of sweets consumption per day, frequency of teeth brushing, genetic predisposition, family illiteracy, non-acquaintance of the importance of mouth hygiene as well as the ignorance of students on incidence of dental caries were also investigated. A total number of 192 girl students were selected from 3 different public primary schools. The subjects were grouped into two groups according to age. Group I was 10 - 11 years old (n=96) and group II was 12 - 13 years old (n=96). The principal method of data collection was a semi structured open-ended questionnaire and interview, beside a clinical examination. The incidence of dental caries was significantly high (p < 0.001)in group I compared to group II. The DMFT index for group I was3.83while that of group II was3.04. About 34.37% of the subjects surveyed brush their teeth at least twice a day and only 24.31% of them know about fluoridated toothpaste. About 83.85% of the families of the studied subjects have a positive history of dental caries. Dental caries prevalence was significantly high (P <0.001) among subjects who consume sweets more than twice a day, students born to illiterate parents, children of families having history of dental caries as well as children who have no idea about the importance of mouth hygiene. In conclusion the prevalence of dental caries is very high among school girl students particularly those aged 10- 11 years. Genetic factors, family illiteracy, non-acquaintance of the importance of mouth hygiene, frequency of sweet consumption per day, frequency of teeth brushing as well as the ignorance of students contribute to this high rate of dental caries.