Oral health of 12-year-old Dai children in Yunnan, China

Abstract

Objectives: To describe the dental caries status and periodontal status of 12-year-old Dai ethnic group children in Yunnan, China; and to study the factors affecting their oral health status. Methods: An oral health survey was conducted in 2011-2012 with ethics approval. A sample of 12-year-old Dai children living in Yunnan, China was selected using a multi-stage and stratified sampling method. One trained dentist performed clinical examination of the children in their school using dental mirror attached to an intra-oral LED light and ball-ended CPI probe. Dental caries was recorded using the DMFT and PUFA indices; and periodontal status with CPI index. A self-completed questionnaire was used to collect information on the background and oral health-related behaviors of the children. Multifactor-ANCOVA was used to investigate the relationship between dental caries experience, and the studied variables.

Results: A total of 875 children were invited and 823 (94%) joined the survey. There were 399 boys and 424 girls, and 45% of them had caries experience. The mean DMFT score was 0.9 (SD=1.5). The majority (83%) of the decayed teeth was left untreated and 20% of the children had odontogenic infection (PUFA>0). The mean PUFA score was 0.2 (SD=0.6). Only 7% of the children had healthy gums (highest CPI score = 0) and nearly half (45%) had calculus (highest CPI score = 2). Caries experience was higher in the girls and those who had toothache in the previous year.

Conclusions: Dental caries was common among the 12-year-old Dai children in China. Although their caries experience as measured by the DMFT index was not high, most of the decayed teeth were untreated and many of the decayed teeth had odontogenic infection. The caries experience was associated with gender and incidence of toothache. The prevalence of gingival inflammation and calculus was high.