The oral health situation and treatment need of schoolchildren Afghanistan: a cross-sectional study

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ABSTRACT

Aim

The present study explores the treatment need for dental caries in schoolchildren in Herat, Afghanistan.

Methods

A convenience sample of 13 schools were selected for the study. All schools were located in the urban areas near Herat and were selected through allocation by the Ministry of Health, which also approved the study protocol. In the schools, classes were allocated by the principal of the school. All the children in the allocated classes were included in the survey. Data collection was performed in the school setting by trained Afghan dentist examiners. To measure caries experience, DMFT/dmft scores were used, counting the number of decayed (measured at both white spot (D≥1) and cavitation level (D≥3), according to WHO criteria), missing and filled teeth.

Results

The study sample consisted of 2,089 schoolchildren between 5 and 18 years old, selected from 13 schools. The mean age was 10.9. The overall mean DMFT score (D ≥ 1, measured at white spot level) was 4.39 (95%CI: [4.26-4.52]). A large majority (68.2%) of the children had untreated cavitated carious lesions (D≥3), with an overall mean D3-score of 2.07 (95%CI: [1.99-2.19]). Under the age of twelve, girls had significantly more white spot lesions than boys, whereas caries levels from the age of twelve were higher in boys, both at white spot and cavitation level. The general care level was low. Only 1.8% of the children had one or more restored lesions.

Conclusion

Dental caries is a considerable oral health problem in the study population. The present sample has a high proportion of untreated carious lesions and a very low level of restorative care. Moreover, significant differences were shown in relation to gender and age groups. The present survey results confirm the need for professional operative and preventive oral health care in this region.

Statistics

Exploratory data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS V25.0 (IBM Corp., NY, USA). Statistical comparison between boys and girls was done by means of an independent samples t-test.

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