Proceedings of a workshop, held in Constanta, Romania on 22 May 2014, on Oral Health of Children in the Central and Eastern European Countries in the context of the current economic crisis

Abstract

This report presents the proceedings of a workshop held in Constanta, Romania on 22 May 2014. During the workshop, representatives from 18 Central and Eastern European countries gave oral presentations on the current oral health of children and young adults aged 16 years and younger. The aim of the workshop was to collect and present data relating to the oral health of children from Central and Eastern European countries and to discuss them in the context of the political changes that have taken place over the last two decades and the recent economic crisis.The presenters had previously completed a series of questions on oral epidemiological studies, prevention of oral disease, treatment and payment, dental personnel, uptake of oral health care and other considerations and structured their presentations on these topics plus the influence of the economic crisis on oral health. It should be remembered that this paper is a report of the proceedings of a workshop and not a study. Ethics approval is not required for workshops.After the 18 oral presentations a 90 min discussion took place during which further points were raised. The presentations, the discussion and the conclusions which were reached are reported in this manuscript.

Oral Health Status Among 12-Year-Old Schoolchildren in Kosovo

“…Based on the findings of this study, the mean of total DMFT was found 3.14 (± 1.85), which was higher than findings reported from other studies in neighbour countries as Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Romania and Slovenia [22,23]. The DMFT reported in this study appeared to be high in comparison with data of similar age groups in Europe as in the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Turkey, Italy and Germany [22][23][24][25].…”

Correlation of Caries Prevalence, Oral Health Behavior and Sweets Nutritional Habits among 10 to 19-Year-Old Cluj-Napoca Romanian Adolescents

“…Preventive measures need to address emergency dental services and public health parental coaching sessions aimed at pain relief, first aid for oral infections and restorations, and strengthening a national tooth brushing program [25,26].…”

The pathfinder study among schoolchildren in the Republic of Moldova: dental caries experience

“…Inadequate oral health care for children, a poor relationship between existing oral care and the actual needs of the population, expensive treatment and insufficient finances, indicate the need for significant changes in the health‐care system and social protection of children in the Republic of Moldova.…”

“…The workshop on ‘Oral Health of Children in the Central and Eastern European Countries’ presents the results of a national study in the Republic of Moldova (2010–2012) and indicates that the mean national DMFT score for 12‐year‐old children is 3.6 ± 0.3 and for 15‐year old children is 4.3 ± 0.3. According to our present pathfinder study, caries levels for 12‐ and 15‐year‐old schoolchildren were lower (DMFT scores of 2.7 and 3.7, respectively).…”