Dental caries changes between(1989) and(2001) in children aged(3-14) years in KasaFakhra and Al-Shamsiat villages,Ninevah Governorate, Iraq
Abstract
This study was designed to assess the trend of dental caries among children aged(3-14) years in KasaFakhira and Al-Shamsiat rural areas and compare the results with those obtained from the first study that conducted (12) years ago.The study comprised(255) chili aged(3-14) years, 117 (45.88%) males and 138 (54.12%) females.The sample was divided into four age groups (3-5),(6-8),(9-11) and (12-14) years. The numbers of children for each group were (31,62, 92 and 70) respectively. Clinical examination was carried out in the village school in good natural daylight using plane mouth mirror and sickle-shaped caries explorer. The index used was based on the WHO criteria and examination was done for both primary and permanent teeth.The results indicated that the mean DMFT for children aged (6-12) years regarding the total sample was (1.55), whereas the previous study recorded (3.06). The general mean for boys in this study (1.54) was nearly similar to the girls (1.56), while the boys in the previous study recorded a lower meanthan girls (2.44) and (3.52), respectively.Through the results, it could be noted that the mean dmft for primary teeth was (1.96) regarding the age group (3-5) years, increased with increase age to (2.43) for the age group (6-8) years,and decreased due to normal shedding of primary teeth and eruption of permanent teeth to (1.27) and (0.59) regarding age groups (9-11) and (12-14) years, respectively. All these means were lower than those in the previous study which were (3.7), (4.5), (2.6) and (0.9) respectively. The boys recorded lower mean of dental caries than girls (1.35) and (1.85) respectively. The results,therefore,confirmed that the trend of dental caries for this young age group was decreased gradually throughout this period (1989-2001) due to the sharp decrease in the quantity of sugar consumed in the previous years because of the unfair embargo on Iraq. This lowered percentage of dental caries could be maintained so and further decreased in the future.
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