Abstract
To assess the dental health of orphan and non-orphan children in Fuyang City, China. A total of 332 orphan children were selected from social child welfare institutes and 590 non-orphan children were selected from the Experimental Primary and Middle Schools through random sampling in Fuyang City, China. The indices for Decayed, Missing, Filling (DMF) in orphan and non-orphan children were determined by dental inspections to assess their dental health. The periodontal status of orphan and non-orphan children aged 12-15 years was determined using the percentages of bleeding gingiva and dental calculus. In the age range of 3 to 5 years, the percentage of caries (81%) and the mean DMF (4.41; SD: 2.06; 95% CI: 3.82 to 5.00) of orphan children were statistically significantly higher than the percentage of caries (64%) and the mean DMF of the non-orphan control cohort (3.29; SD: 2.05; 95% CI: 2.87 to 3.71; p < 0.05). In the age range of 12 to 15 years, the percentage of caries (50.8%) and the mean DMF (1.28; SD: 1.26; 95% CI: 1.12 to 1.43) of orphan children were statistically significantly higher than the percentage of caries (34.5%) and the mean DMF (1.11; SD: 1.24; 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.23; p < 0.05) of non-orphan children. For orphan children ages 3 to 5 years, the percentage of restorations was statistically significantly lower (p < 0.05) than that of non-orphan children (30%). For orphan children ages 12 to 15 years, the percentage of restorations was 3.9%, statistically significantly lower (p < 0.05) than that of non-orphan children (19.4%). In orphan children ages 12 to 15 years, the percentages of bleeding gingiva (76.0%) and dental calculus (69.3%) were statistically significantly higher (p < 0.05) than those of the non-orphan children (46.2% and 39.1%, respectively). There was no statistically significant difference in the evaluation indicators above between different genders within the groups studied, except the percentage of restorations. The dental health of orphan children in Fuyang City is worse than that of non-orphan children of the same age ranges. The values determined in this study can be used as a starting metric to measure the effectiveness of dental health care programs in improving the dental health of both orphan and non-orphan children.
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