Prevalence Of Oral Health Problems Research Articles

Barriers and facilitators for dental care among patients with severe or long-term mental illness.

BackgroundPersons who struggle with severe or long‐term mental illness (SMI) have a higher prevalence of oral health problems than the general population. Obtaining and continuing dental treatment is challenging for this patient group for many reasons, and many drop out of active treatment. Our study aimed to explore perceived barriers to obtaining optimal dental health care for patients with SMI. Further, we sought to identify possible ways to facilitate for providing true access to dental services for this population.MethodsThe study utilised a flexible qualitative design with data collected during ordinary clinical practice in a public dental clinic in Norway. We conducted semi‐structured face‐to‐face interviews with 51 persons with SMI twice: an initial interview before dental treatment and a final one after dental treatment. We applied the thematic analysis method.ResultsThematic analysis revealed two key themes in the participants’ experiences of access to dental health services: practical conditions and relationship with the dentist. Patients reported barriers and facilitators for access to care as factors associated with patients (patient factors), with the dentist (dentist factors) and with healthcare services (system factors).ConclusionsOur study indicates that persons with SMI appreciate oral health and want to obtain needed oral care and dental treatment, but they encounter barriers on several fronts. The participants offered suggestions for how to facilitate attendance and adherence. Our findings suggest that dental healthcare services require reorganisation to meet the needs of patients with SMI.

Examining the Oral Health of Filipinos: Policy Analysis

Background. High prevalence of oral health problems persists across all age groups among Filipinos despite the continued endeavors of the government and professional societies. This position statement aimed to generate consensus policy recommendations to protect and promote oral health in the Philippines as an integral part of the healthcare service in light of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act.
 Methods. An evidence-based policy brief and presentations of dental and policy experts were used as discussion points in the roundtable discussion conducted by the UP Manila Health Policy Development Hub. Key stakeholders from various sectors were convened to generate inputs for policy actions and amendments to oral health related policies.
 Results. Thematic analysis of the discussion was organized using the WHO Building Blocks of Health Systems, which yielded practical, accessible, and population-wide interventions (2010). The following issues were highlighted: (a) health service delivery needs strong collaboration of LGUs; (b) insufficient workforce of dental professionals; (c) market availability of sufficiently fluoridated toothpaste per age group; and (d) health financing scheme on oral health services.
 Conclusion and Recommendations. With the shift in the health system landscape brought by the UHC Act, timely and responsive inter-sectoral interventions, focusing on prevention, must be set to attain the target decrease in the prevalence of dental caries. It was also to recommend to (i) engage the academe and training institutions to increase the workforce, (ii) consider adopting international standards on sugar consumption as appropriate, and (iii) ensure sufficient funds for sustainability of oral health programs, particularly school-based caries prevention program starting in pre-schools.

Oral health care, COVID-19 and challenges

Oral health-care providers are at risk of transmitting and contracting COVID-19 mainly because of the proximity of the care provider to the patient’s oropharyngeal region, exposure to saliva and blood, a lot of aerosol-generating procedures involved, and a fear of cross-contamination among patients. The role and challenges of disinfection, sterilization and control of nosocomial infection have increased in the present era when new pathogens are emerging and older have developed resistance against antimicrobials. Prevention of oral health problems, timely check-ups, and prophylactic dental therapies may be one way of reducing the need for dental procedures. This paper intends to highlight the clinical, practical and economic impact COVID-19 is imposing on the oral health-care sector and the challenges that need to be answered in the future. Brainstorming and research are required to find out affordable, yet effective alternatives to sustain dental profession in the present as well as the future.

English

BACKGROUND Health education is an essential aspect for prevention of oral health problems in school children. Dental trauma can result in damaging the tooth, periodontal ligaments, and sometimes even alveolar bone and gingiva. These traumatic injuries to the anterior teeth in young children are tragic but are an ignored problem. They can result in aesthetic and functional problem with possible impact on child’s quality of life as anterior teeth are essential for phonetics, mastication, integrity of supporting tissue and also mental and psychological wellbeing of children. This dental emergency can be best handled by the school teachers and the staff members when it happens in a school. So, the study was conducted to assess the knowledge and attitude of the school teachers regarding the emergency management of dental trauma and sensitize them on the subject. METHODS This is a pre- and post-test study performed using self - designed questionnaire provided to the school-teachers of Wardha district. RESULTS Knowledge of 98 % teachers increased after the activity whereas knowledge of 2 % of school teachers was the same as earlier. CONCLUSIONS Sensitization of the school teachers improved their awareness and attitude to manage the dental trauma and avulsion injury of teeth in school. KEY WORDS Tooth Avulsion, Emergency Dental Traumatic Care, School Teachers

National and State-Level Prevalence of Oral Health Problems and Utilization of Oral Health Care in Children in the United States

National and State-Level Prevalence of Oral Health Problems and Utilization of Oral Health Care in Children in the United States

National and State-Level Prevalence of Oral Health Problems and Utilization of Oral Health Care in Children in the United States

Purpose: Toothache, bleeding gums, and caries are among the most prevalent oral health problems (OHP) afflicting children. This study explored disparities in national and state-level estimates of the prevalence of OHP and utilization of oral health care services in children in the United States. Additionally, this study examined disparities in rates of OHP across demographics. Methods: A secondary analysis of the 2016-2017 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) Combined Data Set for children ages 1 to 17 (n=69,163) was performed. The NSCH is a nationally representative parent-proxy survey of non-institutionalized US children. Recent …

Oral Health Problems among Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders in the United States.

Children with neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDD) suffer poor oral health problems (OHP) leading to adverse health outcomes. We examined the association between NDD and OHP among children in the United States (US) ages 3-17 years using data from the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) 2016-17. The prevalence of OHP was 19.1%. Children with NDD had about 40% greater likelihood of poor oral health compared to their non-NDD counterparts (p <0.0001). Living at or above 200%-300% of the federal poverty level (FPL), private insurance coverage, and living with a least a college educated adult were found to be protective factors against poor oral health among children.

The demand for preventive and restorative dental services among older adults.

Many older Americans have poor access to dental care, resulting in a high prevalence of oral health problems. Because traditional Medicare does not include dental care benefits, only older Americans who are employed, have post-retirement dental benefits or spousal coverage, or enroll in certain Medicare Advantage plans are able to obtain dental care coverage. We seek to determine the extent to which poor access to dental insurance and high out-of-pocket costs affect dental service use by the elderly. Using the 2007-2015 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and supplemental data on dental care prices, we estimate a demand system for preventive dental services and basic and major restorative services. Selection into dental and medical insurance is addressed using a correlated random effects panel data specification. Consistent with prior studies of the nonelderly population, dental service use was not sensitive to out-of-pocket prices. However, private dental insurance increased preventive service use by 25%, and dental coverage through Medicaid increased basic and major service use by 23% and 36%, respectively. The use of services was more responsive to dental insurance for women than men. These estimates suggest that a Medicare dental benefit could significantly increase dental service use by older Americans.

THE PREVALENCE OF DENTAL CARIES AMONG 6 -12 YEARS-OLD SCHOOL CHILDREN IN SHARIA CAMP

Background: Risk of dental caries is high among the IDP children. Therefore for control and prevention of this problem we need data provides key information. There is no national oral survey has been carried out to determine the prevalence of oral health problems in this group people (Singar people). Subject and Methods: The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence and severity of dental caries in 6-12 year old children in Sharia camp of refugees from Singar. Material and methods: Thecross section study was carried out in elementary school children, which were randomly selected fromSharia camp of IDP Singar people in Kurdistan of Iraq. Results: Results showed the mean dmft and DMFT scores were (2.45 – 2.606) and (0.927±1.583), respectively. Also, 23.4% of the students were caries-free. Conclusions: It was concluded that the present study findings for dmft and DMFT scores in 6-12 year old elementary school children are higher than global standards according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Oral health problems in leukaemic paediatric patients in the United Arab Emirates: a retrospective study.

The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of oral health problems in leukaemic paediatric patients in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and correlate it to the phase of chemotherapy. Medical records of 120 paediatric leukaemic patients (age below 15 years) in the UAE were reviewed for the occurrence of oral health problems. Records from the three main hospitals that provide cancer therapy were accessed after obtaining the required permissions. The overall prevalence of oral health problems in leukaemic patients in our study is 60%. The most common oral health problem recorded in the patients&#x26;#x2019; records was oral mucositis and ulceration (52.4%) followed by dental caries and oral candidiasis accounting for 18.3% and 14.2% respectively. Other oral health problems recorded were gingivitis and gingival bleeding, herpetic gingivostomatitis, poor oral hygiene, and facial palsy. The peak occurrence of most oral problems was during phase IV (maintenance). Oral health problems were more common among patients who received treatment and follow-up locally rather than abroad. Collected data were analysed using statistical software International Business Machines (IBM) Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, version 20, Chicago, SPSS Inc). Descriptive statistics were performed to describe the characteristics of the study population. The association between oral health problems and other risk factors was analysed using the Chi-squared test. A P-value of &#x26;#x3C;0.05 was considered statistically significant. This is the first study to describe oral health problems and its correlation to the phase of chemotherapy in leukaemic paediatric patients in the UAE. Oral health problems as a result of leukaemia and its management are both variable and unavoidable. Therefore, oral and dental care is of critical importance in maintaining the overall wellbeing of the patient before, during, and after treatment. This can be achieved by close liaison between the oncology and dental teams.

Oral health status of long-term care residents in Canada: Results of a national cross-sectional study.

To describe the oral health and oral prosthetic status of long-term care residents in four Canadian provinces. Oral health can have significant impact on the health and quality of life of older adults. Seniors in long-term care are highly dependent on care staff for basic activities of daily living and are at risk for poor oral health. Five hundred and fifty-nine randomly selected residents were examined from thirty-two long-term care homes in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick, Canada. Four experienced registered dental hygienists, one in each province, completed a standardised oral health examination with each participant, examining lip health, breath odour, saliva appearance, natural teeth count, gingival inflammation, tooth and jaw pain, denture status, mucosal status and oral health abnormalities. Of the examined residents, 57.6% were dentate, with an average of 16.4 (SD=8.0) teeth. Most dentate residents had moderate or severe inflammation on at least one tooth (79.6%). Sixty per cent of residents wore dentures, and 43.2% of edentulous residents had poor hygiene of their dentures. Nine per cent of residents required urgent dental treatment for oral health problems such as broken teeth, infection, severe decay and ulcers. This study provides an estimate of the prevalence of oral health problems in residents living in long-term care homes across Canada and indicates that improvement in oral health care is needed. Future work on development strategies aimed at optimising oral health for long-term care residents is required.

Perbandingan indeks plak setelah konsumsi buah apel fuji (Malus pumila) dan buah apel manalagi (Malus sylvestris mill) pada anak usia 9 dan 10 tahun di SD Negeri 1 Dalung

Background: Primary prevention of oral health problems need to be carried by applying the habit of plaque control to the children. Plaque control can be done naturally by chewing solid and fibrous food, such as apples. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the plaque index before and after chewing Manalagi and Fuji apples. Methods: This study is an experimental research which used Pre-Post Test Control Group Design on children aged 9 to 10 years old. The sampling technique was using simple random sampling on 32 children and divided into 2 groups. Group 1 was chewing 100 grams of Fuji apples as the control group and group 2 was chewing 100 grams of Manalagi apples as the tested group. Results: The result from Paired Sample T-test shows that there was a significant difference of mean plaque index before and after chewing Fuji apples and Manalagi apples (p&lt;0,05). The result from Independent Sample T-test shows that there was a significant difference of mean plaque index value between the group who was chewing Manalagi apples and group who was chewing Fuji apples (p&lt;0,05). Conclusion: The conclusion of this study is that both of chewing Fuji apples and Manalagi apples are effective in reducing plaque accumulation, where chewing Manalagi apples shows higher efficacy in reducing plaque accumulation compared with chewing Fuji apples.

Effects of environmental tobacco smoke on the oral health of preschool children.

This study investigated the association between the prevalence of oral health problems (caries, gingivitis, mucosal pigmentation and enamel defects in one to 5 year-old children exposed and not exposed to environmental tobacco smoke before and/or after birth. Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in childhood may have significant health effects. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on a child's current and previous illnesses, oral health behaviours, dietary habits, parental smoking behaviours and parents' dental history. The intraoral examination recorded dental caries (dmfs), enamel defects, gingival health, melanin pigmentation and soft tissue health. Stimulated saliva was collected. Total sIgA levels were quantified using indirect competitive ELISA with a SalimetricsTM kit. The 44 children (aged 15-69months) recruited were divided into two groups: ETS and non-ETS (control). There were 22 children in each: 16 who were exposed to ETS during and after gestation were identified as the ETSB subgroup. Participants exposed to ETS were more likely to have had upper respiratory tract and middle ear infections during the neonatal period and had higher mean dmft, mean dmfs, mean percent of surfaces with demarcated opacities and mean GI than the non-ETS participants. The children exposed to ETS before and after birth had the highest occurrence of enamel opacities showed a higher risk for dental caries even though more children in this group used the recommended fluoride toothpaste (1000ppm fluoride). Mothers who smoked either never breastfed their children or breastfed their children for less than the recommended period of 6 months. Children exposed to ETS were shown to have higher mean total sIgA (μg/ml) than the children in the control group. Associations between ETS exposure before and after gestation and oral health, including salivary changes in young children were shown in the present study. Dental health professionals should include a question about household smoking in children's dental histories, which would allow opportunities to discuss the impact of smoking on child oral health. Longitudinal oral health studies should include a history of maternal smoking during pregnancy and afterwards.

PSS44 - Preferences of The General Population To Avoid Oral Health Outcomes: Results of A Bayesian Discrete Choice Experiment

Paucity of data on quality of life associated with oral health conditions and concerns over using generic measures has led to alternative approaches being used to value prevention of oral health problems. The purpose of this study was to obtain willingness-to-pay (WTP) values for preventing oral ill-health to inform economic modelling, using a discrete choice experiment (DCE). The first stage of the DCE was to identify attributes and levels associated with specific oral health problems (tooth decay and gum disease). This was informed by health states expected to be included in an oral health economic model and a focussed literature review. Pretesting was conducted, followed by two surveys administered online to UK general population panel. The DCE study included a cost attribute to estimate respondents’ WTP to avoid specific oral health problems. A Bayesian D-efficient design was employed using estimates from first survey as informative priors in the final statistical design. Attributes were defined according to the type of tooth affected (molar, pre-molar, anterior), gum disease and cost. The levels within tooth attributes were: no problem, decay without pain, decay with pain and tooth requiring removal. Coefficients and standard errors from the first survey (N=944), were used to inform the second survey (N=1047). Conditional logit model reflecting repeated observations from the same individuals was fitted to the data. The model was statistically significant. Avoiding problems in anterior teeth was most highly valued followed by premolar and molar teeth. Avoiding decay with pain in an anterior tooth generated the highest WTP (mean £245; 95% CI £216 to 272) followed by removal of anterior tooth (mean £203; £169 to £235). Results demonstrate that people have stronger preferences to avoid problems with anterior teeth compared to pre-molars and molars. Prevention of gum problems are also highly valued by respondents.

Implementation of Game-based Oral Health Education vs Conventional Oral Health Education on Children's Oral Health-related Knowledge and Oral Hygiene Status.

Introduction For the prevention of oral health problems, health education of schoolchildren has a vital role. The oral health status of the children can be improved if health promotion in schools is conducted in a comprehensive and interesting mannerObjective Effectivity of game-based oral health education over conventional on the oral health-related knowledge and oral hygiene status among 8- to 12-year-old schoolchildren.Materials and methods A total of 150 children aged 8 to 12 years were divided into two groups. A pretest evaluation of their knowledge regarding oral health and the estimation of plaque index was carried out. Children in group I were given oral health education through PowerPoint presentation once daily for 7 days. Children in group II were educated through the play method (i.e., crosswords and quiz with PowerPoint presentation). The evaluations regarding oral health-related knowledge and plaque scores were recorded on postintervention 1 and 3 months.Results In group II, high knowledge scores of 10.32 and 9.98 were obtained by the on postintervention 1 and 3 months respectively. In both the groups, there was a significant increase in good oral hygiene scores and a significant decrease in plaque scores on postintervention 1 and 3 months follow-up, but much better scores were seen in group II compared to group I at both the follow-ups.Conclusion Implementation of crossword game-based oral health education program is an easy and effective aid for teaching oral health instructions and preventing oral diseases in children as the knowledge scores of children increased considerably when the game-based teaching intervention was used.How to cite this article Malik A, Sabharwal S, Kumar A, Samant PS, Singh A, Pandey VK. Implementation of Game-based Oral Health Education vs Conventional Oral Health Education on Children’s Oral Health-related Knowledge and Oral Hygiene Status. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2017;10(3):257-260.

Oral Health Awareness among the General Population in Chennai

Aim: To evaluate oral health awareness among the general population.Background: According to WHO, the prevalence of periodontitis, dental caries, leukoplakia, OSMF are 86%, 68%, 0.59% and 0.55% respectively in India. Habits in Indian population like smoking and alcohol is also a cause for bad oral health at a prevalence of 15.02% and 8.78% respectively. Dental care can sometimes be a forgotten part of a healthy life style. While its importance is often underestimated, the need for regular dental care cannot be overstated. Oral health has been neglected for long in India. Materials and Methods: A total of 150 people in the age group 15-70 years were selected using random sampling technique. A self-administered structured questionnaire including 13multiple choice questions was given to them. The results were analyzed. Result: In the present study, questionnaire was distributed to 150 patients who were randomly selected in that only 101 participants were interested to take part in it. Only 37.62% of participants brushes twice daily, rest of them brushes only once a day. Cleansing method has been improved,82.17% uses tooth brush and paste to clean their teeth. About 13% of participants where aware about the interdental aids out of which 11% used floss and 2% used interdental brush, 70.39% participants uses tongue cleaner regularly and only 30%uses mouth wash. The results of this study suggest that oral health awareness and practices among the study population are improved when compared with the pervious studies but still there is lack of awareness thus need to be improved. Conclusion: The above-mentioned oral hygiene problems can be prevented by simply providing awareness, which is a more cost- effective alternative than expensive dental procedures. Dental professionals, Dental Marketing Agencies, and media too may join hands with the government to help in the prevention of oral health problems by improving knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and practices toward oral hygiene among the general population.

Awareness of restorative dental treatment as shown by nursing students in Ibadan

Aim of the study. To determine the level of awareness of nursing students in Ibadan, South Western Nigeria, of restorative dental treatment. Material and methods. Well-structured pre-tested questionnaire was submitted to the three randomly selected schools testing the level of awareness of dental treatment and restorative materials. Results. Of the 302 respondents, almost all (99.0%) were aware of the dental profession, but as many as 77.5% of them had never visited a dentist. The majority (87.4%) were aware of the possibility of replacement of a missing tooth, only 66.2% were aware of the possibility of restoration of a broken tooth, while a little above half (53.6%) were aware of the possibility of restoration of a discoloured tooth. Only 30 respondents (9.9%) believed that a broken tooth can improve facial beauty, five respondents (1.7%) believed that missing teeth can improve facial beauty, while only 42 respondents (13.9%) believed that both broken and missing teeth can improve facial beauty (p–value lower than 0.0001). More than four-fifth of the respondents (84.4%) knew the use of removable dentures, 25.2% knew the use of dental amalgam, 17.2% were aware of a dental bridge, 23.5% knew the use of composite, 27.5% knew the use of dental crown in restorative dentistry. Conclusion. The majority of respondents had never visited a dentist for any routine dental check-up. Many of them have poor knowledge of basic restorative dental treatment; this is a strong indicator that they lack the basic knowledge of clinical dentistry. In order to improve the clinical acumen and versatility of nurses, regular training courses on basic clinical dentistry should be incorporated into the curriculum of all kinds of nursing programs in Ibadan, and even in Nigeria at large. This will help in empowering nurses in educating, and counselling of individuals with oral health problems to seek early and professionally-delivered oral health care. This eventually will go a long way in reducing the prevalence of oral health problems and the complications of delayed dental treatment that is commonly reported in Nigerian population.

Inequity in access to oral health service of primary students: A case study of a dental fund in a central region province

Inaccessibility to services and the prevalence of oral health problems in the school-age children group is consistently increasing and has become a major driver to establish a dental fund since the 2011 fiscal year with productive indicators to increase accessibility to oral health service as the major strategy of the fund. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate equity in the accessibility to oral health promotion and prevention based on this fund. Thus, the research questions formed were whether or not the mechanism of a dental fund has created equity in the accessibility to services of the students and what is the consequence of the funding operation? This study used ethnographical research in a small province in the central region of Thailand and was conducted from May 2012 to January 2013. The key informants consisted of 8 dentists and 14 dental hygienists. The research methods were in-depth interviews, observations, and group discussions. Content analysis was applied and the results were considered based on the concept of health equity.The research findings showed that though the operation had been successful based on the productive indicators of the dental fund, inequity in oral health service provision for school-age children still existed in the research area. Only 20 percent of the students in the suburban area received complete dental treatment which was lower than the target indicator, while more than 20 percent of the students in the district town received the service. Since the operation aimed to achieve the productive indicator, this resulted in dental personnel selecting only the less problematical group of students from the large-sized schools to be able to achieve the indicator easily.Moreover, the procedure indicator findings showed that the goal of having participation from the District Health Coordinating Committee (DHCC) was not achieved in developing oral health promotion and prevention for grade 1 students because the DHCC deferred to the knowledge and expertise of the dentists who still operated based on bio-medicine. As a result, the present work plan and methods for organizing activities with the student group are still emphasizing a full mouth examination and complete treatment according to the quantitative indicator only, without any new approaches or operational concepts.

Magnitude of dental caries, missing and filled teeth in Malawi: National Oral Health Survey.

BackgroundOral health problems are significant cause of morbidity particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. In Malawi, routine health management information system data over the years showed that oral health problems were one of the top ten reasons for outpatient attendance. However, to date, no national oral survey has been carried out to determine the prevalence of oral health problems.MethodsA national population-based cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2013. A total of 130 enumeration areas (EAs) were randomly selected and from each EA, 40 participants were randomly selected as per WHO STEPS survey protocol. Eligible participants were 12, 15, 35–44 and 65–74 year old. A multi-stage sampling design was used to obtain a national representative sample of these age groups. Oral examination was based on WHO diagnostic criteria (2010).ResultsA total of 5400 participants were enrolled in the survey. Of these: 3304 (61.3 %) were females, 2090 (38.7 %) were males; 327 (6.9 %) were from urban and 4386 (93.1 %) from rural areas; 1115 (20.6 %), 993 (17.3 %), 2306 (42.7 %) and 683 (12.6 %) were aged 12, 15, 35–44, 65–74 years respectively. Among 12 year-old, 15 year-old, 35–44 and 65–74 year age groups, prevalence of dental caries was 19.1, 21.9, 49.0 and 49.2 % respectively, overall 37.4 %. Prevalence of missing teeth was 2.7, 5.2, 47.7 and 79.9 %, overall 35.2 %. Prevalence of filled teeth was 0.2 %, 1.3 %, 8.7 %, 12.7 %, overall 6.5 %. Prevalence of bleeding gums was 13.0, 11.8, 30.8 and 36.1 %, overall 23.5 %. Toothache, dental caries and missing teeth were more common in females than males; 46.5 % vs 37.9 %, 40.5 % vs 32.4 %, 37.7 % vs 30.1 % respectively, all p < 0.05. Prevalence of dental caries and missing teeth in urban areas were as high as in the rural areas; 33.3 % vs 37.4 % and 30.9 % vs 33.7 % respectively, all p > 0.05. The mean number of decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) in 12, 15, 35–44, 65–74 year old was 0.67, 0.71, 3.11 and 6.87 respectively. Self- reported brushing of teeth was poor with only 35.2 % of people brushed their teeth twice a day and tobacco smoking was high, particularly among adult males where one in five (22.9 %) was a smoker.ConclusionThis study demonstrated that oral health problems are major public health problems in Malawi. One in five (21 %) adolescents aged 12–15 years and half (49 %) of adults aged 35 years or more had dental caries, half (48 %) and 80 % of the population aged 35–44, 65–74 years had missing teeth respectively. Toothache, dental caries and missing teeth were more prevalent in females than males and prevalence in urban was as high as in rural areas. Oral hygiene was poor with less than 40 % of the population brush their teeth twice a day and tobacco smoking was high, particularly in men where prevalence was 23 %. These findings could be used to develop evidence-informed national policy, action and resource mobilization plan and community based interventions to reduce the prevalence of oral health problems in Malawi.

Oral health status and treatment needs among 10126 school children in West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Objectives:Oral diseases are affecting a large percentage of children worldwide. This study with Indian Society of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry collaboration was taken up with the aim to evaluate the oral health status and treatment needs in school-going children of the West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, India.Materials and Methods:This cross-sectional study was conducted among 10126 school children who were randomly selected from 32 schools in West Godavari district. To find the significance of the obtained number of cases for different age groups, Chi-square test of significance was used.Results:The prevalence of dental conditions are as follows: Dental caries 63.5%, periodontal diseases 13.6%, dental anomalies 3.6%, dental trauma 3.2%, and orthodontic treatment 25.1%. Among the different age groups, 11–14 years age group has the highest prevalence of oral health problems. Females were more affected with dental caries (P = 0.17), orthodontic treatment needs (P = 0.12), and dental anomalies (P = 0.86) compared to males which was statistically insignificant. The highest prevalence of dental conditions in the case of females was observed during the age of 11–14 years, and in males, the peak was seen in the 15–18 years age group.Conclusions:This study demonstrated that school-going children in West Godavari district suffer from a high prevalence of dental conditions and have higher treatment needs.