Caries prevalence and risk factors for its development in urban and rural regions

Abstract

Introduction: Many socio-demographic indicators, apart from other risk factors, may lead to a multicausal disease, such as caries. Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate dental health status in 12-year olds in urban and rural populations in Banja Luka and determine possible risk factors in their oral health behavior. Subjects and Methods: The study involved 496 children, 12-year-old pupils in primary schools in urban and rural regions of Banja Luka. Dental checkup was performed in classrooms at day light and using dental mirrors and probes. Caries prevalence was analyzed using the Klein-Palmer system to obtain the mean decayed teeth values for the two regions. The pupils filled in questionnaires about their socioeconomic status, motivation and knowledge on oral health as well as oral hygiene and dietary habits. Results: High mean decayed teeth values were obtained in the rural population of pupils (4.89 and 6.74). Questionnaire data showed statistically significant differences regarding dental visits, fluoride prophylaxis, the frequency of tooth brushing and the age when pupils started to maintain oral hygiene. Conclusion: 12-year olds have a large number of affected teeth, especially in the rural region. It is essential to implement oral health education programs aimed at improving oral health and eliminating the misbalance in dental health status in populations living in different socio-economic and demographic regions

Knowledge, attitudes and behavior of children in relation to oral health

“…First of all, we can say that it is due to the lack of children's knowledge gained by dentists, parents, teachers, means of mass communication, or perhaps lack of interest of children (parents). Data from this study are similar to data from the literature 13,18,19,23 , while 77% of Croatian adolescents were informed about the positive effect of fluoride on caries development 8 . Of all the fluoride preparations, toothpaste with fluoride is used by 4.3% of Sarajevo twelve year olds 10 .…”

“…Twelve year olds (28.1%) from this study brush their teeth longer, but most of the children (58.3%) are doing it for about 2 minutes. A total of 92.85% of the examined children from Sarajevo brush their teeth at least twice a day (Bosnian entity, Federation) and around 56% children from Banja Luka (Bosnian entity, Republic of Srpska), 18.5 % of children from rural part and 9.6% from urban parts of Banja Luka 10,12,18 . Their peers, 81.8 % of school children from Pan evo brush their teeth twice a day, 70% of Croats, 45% of Chinese brush their teeth, 50.2% of children from Saravak (Malaysia), 27.5% of girls from Saudi Arabia, about 69% of children from Northern Jordan, about 55.6 % of children from Portugal 8,13,14,[19][20][21][22] and in most of the cases brushing length is shorter than 2 minutes.…”

“…The level of awareness of the importance of oral hygiene and its maintenance, increases with the age of children and it is more pronounced among children living in urban areas 12,19,23 .Twelve year olds living in Banja Luka maintain their oral hygiene with toothbrush and toothpaste 18 . A toothbrush as the only oral hygiene tool is used in 90.8% of twelve and fifteen year olds 24 .…”

“…The same study reported that 58.4% of six year olds and 13.3% of twelve year olds have never been at the dentists'. Literature review reveals that toothache is the most common reason for dental visits 14,21 , while the less frequent reasons are regular dental examinations or regular interventions 18,24 or every six months visits 17 . In contrast to that, data obtained in studies at the area of Sarajevo, Banja Luka and Pan evo, show that children more often go for control check-ups, as well as for appointments with their dentist 10,12,19 .…”

Socioeconomic significance and prevention of caries in school children

“…У студијама која су рађене у Србији али и другим земљама света, а чији је циљ био да се утврди преваленција каријеса у градским и сеоским срединама, добијени резултати пока-зали су да животно окружење утиче на орално здравље јер су нађене веће вредности КИП-а код испитаника у сеоским подручјима у односу на градска 3,4,9 . Традиционално, увек је постојао нижи економски и образовни ниво код становништва у руралним срединама, а такође и мања доступност стоматолошким услугама 10,11 .…”