Dental Caries Pattern and Treatment Needs among Ugandan Adolescent Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Dental caries is still a major public health problem owing to its high prevalence and incidence in several regions. Planning and development of effective preventive and treatment modalities for the management of dental caries demand information on disease pattern and treatment needs of the populations. However, there is a paucity of this information in Uganda. The aim of the present study was to identify the dental caries pattern and treatment needs among Ugandan adolescent students. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among 11- to 19-year-old adolescents attending two secondary schools in Kampala and Mukono districts of Uganda. At both schools, random sampling was used to select the participating classes and the adolescents. Decayed teeth and treatment needs were recorded using the World Health Organization Basic Oral Health Survey criteria. A total of 406 adolescents comprising of 249 female and 157 male students participated in the study. Data were analysed using STATA, version 12.0. The prevalence of decayed teeth (DT) was expressed as a percentage of individuals with DT score ≥1. The treatment needs were categorised into three groups. Associations between dependent and independent variables were evaluated using cross-tabulation, chi-square test, and Poisson regression analysis. The overall prevalence of decayed teeth was 62.6% and mean DT was 1.7 ± 2.3. A total of 696 decayed teeth were observed, and the molar teeth, particularly the second molar (50.6%), were the most significantly affected. The prevalence of caries was higher in the mandible (51.4%) compared to the maxilla though the difference was not statistically significant. Decayed teeth were significantly (p<0.05) associated with difficulty in chewing, history of dental pain in the past 12 months, poor perception of tooth state, and the female participants. Majority (59.4%) of the study participants required restorations of teeth. About 83.2% (n = 579) of the teeth needed restorations, while 44 needed extractions. In conclusion, the prevalence of decayed teeth was high among the study population. It is recommended that school health programmes should include oral health preventive and curative interventions to achieve optimum health.

New Method of Avoiding Underestimation of Caries Incidence and Its Association with Possible Risk Factors in Japanese University Students: A Prospective Cohort Study

“…The highest prevalence of dental caries of occlusal surfaces was in the lower first molar at baseline and at follow-up. First and second molars overall have a high risk for dental caries, and the prevalence of dental caries in occlusal surfaces is higher than that in proximal surfaces [36][37][38][39][40]. The trend in the present study was supported by these previous reports.…”

Perceived Practitioner Barriers to the Management of Orofacial Pain in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: A Cross-sectional Study

“…Pain in dentistry is usually related to oral diseases [13] or clinical procedures, such as restoration [14], implant insertion [15], miniscrew placement [16], tooth avulsion [17], combined surgical-orthodontic therapy [18], temporomandibular therapy [19]. Therefore any patient presenting with a chief complaint of toothache should be first evaluated for an odontogenic cause of pain.…”

Dental caries and access to oral health services among children and adolescents

“…Children with severe untreated carious teeth do not thrive and they can weigh significantly less than their peers [1]. The level of untreated [32] dental caries in Eritrea,[14] Ethiopia [33], Uganda [34], Kenya [18],South Africa [35][36],Ghana [37] and Nigeria [31][32] was high, with 98.3% reported in Eritrea[14] , about 90%-97% in South Africa [33][34], and ranging between 77.2% and 98.6% in the permanent teeth and 92% and 95.6% in the primary teeth in Nigeria [3]. In Eritrea, among 12 years old Eritrean children, 98.3% of the carious teeth were untreated[14],among 6 years old South African children , more than 90% of the children had carious teeth that were untreated [34].…”

“…The level of untreated [32] dental caries in Eritrea,[14] Ethiopia [33], Uganda [34], Kenya [18],South Africa [35][36],Ghana [37] and Nigeria [31][32] was high, with 98.3% reported in Eritrea[14] , about 90%-97% in South Africa [33][34], and ranging between 77.2% and 98.6% in the permanent teeth and 92% and 95.6% in the primary teeth in Nigeria [3]. In Eritrea, among 12 years old Eritrean children, 98.3% of the carious teeth were untreated[14],among 6 years old South African children , more than 90% of the children had carious teeth that were untreated [34]. In Ethiopia, among 6-15 years old Ethiopian children, 84.6% of the carious teeth were untreated [33].In Ghana, among 9-15 years Ghanaian children,80% of the carious teeth were untreated.…”

“…[37]In Nigeria, among3 -6 years nursery school children , 92 % of the carious teeth were untreated [32]. The high level of untreated dental caries [31] in children [14, [32][33][34][35][36][37] indicates high restorative treatment needs [38] and very low restorative index [31,38] among children and adolescent ,and can reflects limited access to oral care in terms of cost, accessibility, availability and awareness.…”