Oral health status, knowledge and behaviors of Dai and Bulang ethnic minority groups in Yunnan province, China

Abstract

The Dai and Bulang people are ethnic minorities in China. Most of them live in Yunnan province, which is located in the southwestern part of China. This study aimed to describe the oral health status, oral health-related behaviors of the 5-and12-year-old children of the Dai and Bulang ethnic groups, the oral health-related knowledge of the 12-year-old Dai and Bulang children living in Yunnan Province, and the factors that influence their oral health status. An oral health survey was conducted on a sample of 5-and 12-year-old Dai and Bulang children in Yunnan, China. The children were selected using a multi-stage and purposeful sampling method for examination by a trained dentist. Dental caries experience was measured using the “dmft/DMFT” index,o ral hygiene status with VPI index and periodontal status with CPI index. A questionnaire was used to collect information on the children’s background, oral health-related knowledge and behaviors. A total of 833 Dai and 723 Bulang 5-year-old children were examined. The prevalence of dental caries among the Dai and Bulang children was 89% and 85%, respectively. There were 49%of the Dai and 38%of the Bulang children had carious tooth with pulp involvement. Their mean (±SD) dmft score was 7.0±5.3 and 5.8±4.9,

respectively. Their mean (±SD) dt score was 6.8±5.2 and 5.6±4.8, respectively. Higher dmft scores were found among Dai children who were girls, were currently bottle-fed, took sweet snacks daily, had higher VPI scores, had visited a dentist within last year, and whose father had up to secondary school education. The Bulang children, who took sweet snacks daily, had visited a dentist within the last year and had higher VPI scores had higher dmft scores. A total of 823 Dai and 873 12-year-old Bulang children were surveyed and their prevalence of dental caries was 40% and 35%, respectively. Around 90% of the carious teeth were left untreated. Their mean DMFT (±SD) score was 0.9±1.5 and 0.6±1.1, respectively. Most of them (Dai, 93%; Bulang 71%) had gingivitis and around half of them (Dai, 46%; Bulang, 58%) had dental calculus. The Dai and Bulang children who were girls and those who had visited a dentist during the previous year had higher caries risk. The mean dental knowledge score of the 12-year-old Dai and Bulang children was 7.2 ± 3.7 and 7.8 ± 3.6, respectively. In conclusion, the prevalence of dental caries of the 5-year-old Dai and Bulang children in Yunnan, China was high and most of them were left untreated. The caries experience of the 5-year-old Dai children was associated with gender, father’s education, bottle feeding habits, snacking habits, dental visit behavior, and oral hygiene status. The caries experience of the 5-year-old Bulang children was associated with their snacking habits, dental visit habitsand oral hygiene status. Dental caries was common among the 12-year-old Dai and Bulang children and associated with gender and dental attendance. Most of the decay were left untreated. Their oral health-related knowledge was moderate. Their periodontal condition was poor.