Comparative Assessment of the Effectiveness of Caries Prevention in Children Living in the Transcarpathian Region

Abstract

Prevention of dental diseases is an economically justified, promising and effective area of modern dentistry, especially for children.
 The aim of the study. Evaluation of the effectiveness of early prevention of caries of temporary teeth in children who have been living in the mountainous regions of Zakarpattia region for a long time.
 Materials and methods. An examination of 251 children aged 5–11 years (129 girls 51.4% and 122 boys 48.6%), residents of the mountain and lowland zones of Zakarpattia region, was conducted. The level of hygiene was assessed with the help of the Fedopov-Volodkin hygienic index, and the caries resistance of tooth enamel was determined using the DIAGNOdent pen (KaVo, Germany) and TEP-tect (V.P. Okyshko, L.I. Kocapeva, 1983). Statistical analysis of the obtained data was carried out on a personal computer using the licensed programs ˝MS Excel 7˝ for the operating system˝ Windows˝ and the standard program package "STATISTICA" v. 6.0.
 Conclusions. The application of the proposed caries prevention scheme led to positive results, which was confirmed by a repeat examination after 6 months: a satisfactory level of hygiene prevailed in all examinees and the level of caries resistance of enamel reliably improved. It was statistically established that the presence of a decompensated degree of caries activity has an obvious correlation with a low level of tooth enamel caries resistance in all studied patients (r=0.87, p=0.05).