Dental status and DMFT index in 12 year old children of public care Centers in Tehran Journal Article

Objectives: Dental caries is a public health problem that affects pre-school and school children throughout the world. Poor oral health profoundly affects a person’s quality of life. Information on caries prevalence and severity represents the basis for caries prevention programs and indicates treatment necessity in the population. The occurrence of permanent teeth caries particularly in non-industrial societies, seems to be highThe aim of this study was to present the prevalence of dental caries inunder supervision 12- years old children living in Tehran and to assess the influence of the factors which are related to their oral health. Method: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 113 undersupervision children.The clinical examinations focused on dental status, expressed as DMFT (Decayed, Missed, Filled Permanent Teeth) index,following WHO standards methodologies. Clinical examinations and personal interviews to investigate the related factors to oral health were conducted by a single investigator. Results: The level of DMFT was estimated at 1.32±0.86. Among the relevant factors, the reason for visiting the dentist (p‹0.0001) and duration of stay in the center (p‹0.04) had a meaningful relation to DMFT index of more than 2. Conclusion: The community under the research has a good condition as compared with the WHO goal. Further studies are recommended due to meaningful relation between DMFT index and the reason for visiting dentists as well as the duration of stay in the center.

Iranian Rehabilitation Journal, Vol. 9, No. 14, 2011 Original Article Dental status and DMFT index in 12 year old children of public care Centers in Tehran Nasim Shafiezadeh; Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran Farin Soleimani*; University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation sciences, Pediatric Neurorehabilitation Research Center, Tehran, Iran. The occurrence of permanent teeth caries particularly in non-industrial societies, seems to be high;The aim of this study was to present the prevalence of dental caries inunder supervision 12- years old children living in Tehran and to assess the influence of the factors which are related to their oral health. Keywords: DMFT index, Oral health, Governmental Round-The-Clock Centers, under-supervision children Submitted: 10 Sep 2010 Accepted: 23 Dec 2010 Introduction Dental caries is a public health problem that affects pre-school and school children all around the world, leading to pain, chewing difficulties, general health disorders, speech and psychological problems, and poor quality of life (1-4). The aim of this study was to assess the caries prevalence in 12- years old under supervision healthychildren living in governmental round-the- clock centers in Tehran and to assess the influence of the factors which are related to their oral health by using the indexes for decayed, missed, and filled teeth (DMFT). The mean DMFT in governmental round -the - clock centers children of social welfare organization in cities of Tehran province day), time of snack consumption (after main course/between meals), occlusion related factors Tehran Province Tehran Shemiranat Rey Place of Study (crowding/ spacing), oral hygiene instructor (parents/dentist/center’s caregivers).