Oral diseases and socio-demographic factors in adolescents living in Maasai population areas of Tanzania: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundOral diseases may cause serious health problems, especially in socially disadvantaged populations and in low-income countries. In populations living in the rural areas of Tanzania there is paucity of reports on oral health. The study aim was to estimate the prevalence, severity and socio-demographic distribution of oral diseases/conditions in adolescents living in Maasai population areas of Tanzania and to compare oral diseases/conditions between Maasai and non-Maasai ethnic groups.MethodsA total of 23 schools were randomly selected from 66 rural public primary schools in Monduli and Longido districts, Tanzania. All pupils in the selected classes, 6th grade, were invited to participate in the study. A total of 989 were invited and 906 (91.6%) accepted the invitation and completed an interview and a clinical oral examination.ResultsOut of 906 study participants (age range 12–17 years), 721(79.6%) were from Maasai and 185 (20.4%) from non-Maasai ethnic groups. Prevalence of poor oral hygiene, gingival bleeding, dental caries experience (DMFT> 0), dental fluorosis TF grade 5–9, dental erosion (into dentin), tooth wear (into dentin) and TMD was 65.6, 40.9, 8.8, 48.6, 1.9, 16.5 and 11.8%, respectively. Multiple variable logistic regression analysis revealed that, girls (OR = 2.0) and participants from Longido (OR = 2.6) were more likely to present with good oral hygiene (p < 0.05). Adolescents from Monduli (OR = 1.7), males (OR = 2.1), being born within Arusha region (OR = 1.9) and Maasai (OR = 1.7) were more likely to present with gingival bleeding (p < 0.05). DMFT> 0 increased by age (OR = 2.0) and was associated with non-Maasai ethnic group (OR = 2.2), (p < 0.05). Adolescents from Monduli district (OR = 10.0) and those born in Arusha region (OR = 3.2) were more likely to present with dental fluorosis (p < 0.05). Dental erosion was more common among non-Maasais (OR = 2.0) as well as having mother with high education (OR = 2.3), (p < 0.05).ConclusionsOral diseases like dental caries and dental erosion were less common, but gingival bleeding, dental fluorosis, tooth wear and TMD were common findings in adolescents attending primary schools in the Maasai population areas of Tanzania. Notable differences between Maasai and non-Maasai ethnic groups and certain correlations to sociodemographic factors were detected. Our findings can be utilized by policy makers in the planning of oral health programs in public primary schools of Maasai population areas of Tanzania.

Oral impacts on daily performances and its socio-demographic and clinical distribution: a cross-sectional study of adolescents living in Maasai population areas, Tanzania

“…All these exposed them to various risk factors of oral diseases and affected their psychological, social and quality aspects of their life .. Moreover, the present findings and also previous ones have shown that non-Maasai adolescents are more frequently affected by oral diseases than their Maasai counterparts [23]. Those from the least poor families were more likely to report oral impacts than those from the poorest families.…”

“…The estimated minimum sample size for this study, 845 adolescents was obtained by assuming a margin error of 5% and, confidence intervals of 95%. Details about the sampling technique have been described elsewhere [23]. Thus, in this study, we did a secondary analysis of a study planned for other purposes.…”

“…Details considering the clinical oral examination have been described elsewhere [23]. Oral hygiene was assessed using the Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI-S) [29].…”

Periodontal and dental conditions of a school population in a volcanic region of Tanzania with highly fluoridated community drinking water

“…Many studies have assessed the prevalence of tooth decay both in populations that present high levels of fluorine and in others that present lower levels. [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] In 1994, a World Health Organization Expert Committee published a consensus report on the role of fluoride in the promotion of oral health all over the world. 44 Assessing the prevalence of caries in schoolchildren living in areas with different levels of fluoride, Sukhabogi et al observed the highest prevalence in the group in the low fluoride area, followed by the groups in the high and very high area.…”

“…[10][11][12][13][14] Numerous studies have attempted to correlate caries with dental fluorosis and have reported changes in the risk of decay depending on the degree of severity of the condition. [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] Fewer studies have explored the association between dental fluorosis with periodontitis. The role of some of the etiological factors of periodontal disease such as age, gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status, lifestyle, smoking and oral hygiene has been studied in some populations in India 24,25 but the effect of fluoride on periodontal tissue remains controversial, even though its association with tooth decay is well established.…”