Correlation between dental caries experience, oral health promotion behaviors, and knowledge of oral health in children and adolescents

ABSTRACT Aim To determine the dental caries experience of pre-school children attending anganwadi and day care centre in Udupi Taluk. Materials and Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 825 pre-school children attending Anganwadi and day care centers in Udupi Taluk. Dental caries was assessed using Dentition status and treatment needs (WHO, 1997). Data was analyzed using SPSS 16.0 with significance level at P value < 0.05. Chi-square test was used to find out the significant differences. Level of significance was taken Results Dental caries experience was significantly higher among anganwadi children (3.74±3.58) as compared to day care children (3.26±3.32). The prevalence of dental caries was 64.2% among anganwadi children and 61.0% among day care children. Girls had slightly higher mean deft score, mean number of decayed teeth, filled teeth and lower missing teeth as compared to boys. Conclusion High caries experience in this study revealed that there is a great need to plan and conduct oral health promotion initiatives and treatment activities for preschool children. The oral health education at initial stages would help in improving preventive dental behavior and attitude which is beneficial for lifelong.

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Dental caries and attendance to dental care in Finnish children with operated congenital heart disease. A practice based follow-up study

European Archives of Paediatric Dentistry ◽

10.1007/s40368-021-00603-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

H. Karhumaa ◽

E. Lämsä ◽

H. Vähänikkilä ◽

M. Blomqvist ◽

T. Pätilä ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Promotion ◽

Congenital Heart Disease ◽

Heart Disease ◽

Oral Health ◽

Dental Caries ◽

Dental Care ◽

Congenital Heart ◽

Oral Health Promotion ◽

Grade 8

Abstract Purpose Oral health of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) is of utmost importance. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of dental caries and attendance to dental care in Finnish heart-operated CHD patients born in 1997–1999. Methods The cohort of children born in 1997–1999 was selected using a national register on all heart-operated children in Finland. Gender, general health problems, diagnosis, type of the heart defect (shunting, stenotic and complex defects), and number of operations were available and included in the analyses. Dental records from primary health care were collected from municipalities with their permission. The data comprised of the number of dental examinations and data on caries status (dt, DT, dmft, DMFT) at the age of 7 (grade 1), 11 (grade 5) and 15 (grade 8) years and at the most recent examination. The control group consisted of dental data on patients born in 1997–1999 provided by the City of Oulu, Finland (n = 3356). Results Oral patient records of 215/570 children were obtained. The difference between the defect types was statistically significant both for DT (p = 0.046) and DMFT (p = 0.009) at the age of 15 (grade 8). The prevalence of caries did not differ between the study population and the controls. High present and past caries experiences were not associated with higher number of visits to oral health care, especially to oral hygienist, or with oral health promotion. National obligations concerning dental visits were not implemented in all municipalities. Conclusion There seems to be a need for oral health promotion and preventive means implemented by oral hygienists among those with CHD.

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