Analysis Of Risk Factors Of Caries Based On Epidemiological Investigation And Preliminary Evaluation Of Intervention Program

Chapter ? Risk factors for caries in permanent teeth among12-15-year-old students in Guangdong ProvinceObjectivesThis study aimed to assess the current permanent teeth caries status and oral health-related information and to determine the risk factors for caries among 12-15-year-old students in Guangdong Province.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was carried out among 7680 12-15-year-old students from 24 middle schools in 8 regions in Guangdong Province,China.Equal-sized groups of urban and rural students(960 each)from Guangdong were selected by stratified,multistage random sampling,with a gender ratio of 1:1.All participants were required to undergo a clinical examination to detect permanent caries.The average decayed,missing,and filled teeth(DMFT)index was used to describe the caries status.The questionnaire collected information related to demography,family background,sugar intake behavior,oral health knowledge,attitude and behavior among the participants.Pearson ?2 was used to analyze the difference of caries prevalence in different populations,and Binary Logistic regression analysis was used to identify potential risk factors associated with caries in permanent teeth.ResultsIn this study,the prevalence of caries in permanent teeth was 47.73%;88.28%of the students did not know what the fluoride toothpaste was,and the students who knew that pit and fissure sealant could protect teeth accounted for 20.27%.Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that rural students(OR=1.54,95%CI:1.37-1.73,p<0.01),female gender(OR=1.50,95%CI:1.35-1.67,p<0.01),older students(OR>1 and p<0.05),non-only-child(OR=1.23,95%CI:1.06-1.42,p<0.01),frequent consumption of desserts and sweet drinks(OR>1 and p<0.05)were risk factors for dental caries in students,while the mother's high educational level(OR<1 and p<0.05)was the protective factor of caries in students.Conclusions1.The prevalence of caries in permanent teeth among 12-15-year-old students in Guangdong was higher than the average level in China(47.73%vs 41.9%),the oral health education that fluoride toothpaste and pit and fissure sealant can prevent caries should be strengthened.2.Rural residence,female gender,the non-single child,and frequent consumption of sugary snacks or drinks were the main risk factors for caries,while a high education level of the mother was a protective factor.Chapter ? Preliminary Evaluation of Pit and Fissure Sealant Intervention ProjectObjectivesTo explore the dental caries status in students after 3 years of pit and fissure sealant program in some areas of Guangdong province,and to evaluate the effect of this intervention preliminarily.MethodsIn this study,among 1074 students,a multi-stage cluster random sampling method was used to investigate the dental caries status among students in the area partially covered by the pit and fissure sealant project in Guangdong Province after 3 years of intervention,and the non-project-covered school students were used as the control group.To evaluate the effect of this project,the crown of the tooth was examined according to the WHO criterion,and the caries status was recorded using DMFT scores.The Chi-square test of two sample rates was used to compare the caries prevalence in different groups,and the Nonparametric Rank-sum test was used to compare the DMFT scores in different groups.ResultsIn this survey,the prevalence of caries in project covered school students was 10.20%,and the DMFT scores were 0.18±0.605.The caries prevalence in the intervention group was lower than that in the non-intervention group(10.42%vs 20.41%);the DMFT scores were lower in the intervention group than in the non-intervention group(0.18±0.611 vs 0.33±0.801).Additionally,the caries prevalence in the sealant group was lower than that in the non-sealant group(9.07%vs 20.41%),and the DMFT scores in the first permanent molar were lower in the sealant group than in the non-sealant group(0.12±0.409 vs 0.33±0.801).ConclusionsThe intervention program can reduce the prevalence of caries among students,and its long-term caries prevention effect remains to be explored in further study.