Dental caries is one of the most prevalent diseases afflicting human beings and persists till date as a challenge to the medical and dental profession in particular and the society in general. Information on epidemiological figures of dental caries is a fundamental requirement which updates our knowledge on changing trends of the disease, its treatment needs and helps in understanding ways and means to prevent its onset, limit its progression, and consequences [
Oral health is now recognized as equally important in relation to general health. The major oral health problems around the world are generally considered to be dental caries and periodontal diseases. Previous studies show that most individuals seek dental care with complaints of pain mainly because of tooth ache related to dental caries [
Age of 12 years has been universally accepted as global monitoring age for caries since all permanent teeth except third molars would most likely have erupted by this age. By the age of 15, the dietary habits of the individuals are more or less established and the permanent teeth have been exposed to the oral environment for 3–9 years, thus making the assessment of caries prevalence even more meaningful at this age [
Measuring dental caries prevalence among Palestinian adolescents is extremely important to establish a baseline data which is essential for oral health planners to apply intervention programs in schools.
The aim of this paper is to measure the distribution of dental caries among 12–15 year old adolescents of northern part of Palestine.
This study was carried out on 677 individuals of both sexes (411 were females and 266 were males); their ages ranged from 12 to 15 years. This sample was randomly selected from different schools in four main governorates in northern west bank in which individuals had no previous history of receiving any specific organized preventive treatment. The schools visited in four main governorates (Jenin, Tobass, Qbatia, and Alzababdeh) were chosen according to the list of Palestinian Ministry of Education. The sample involved in this study was divided into 4 groups depending on age to be expressive about dental caries status in different age groups in adolescence.
Age of 12 years has been universally accepted as global monitoring age for caries since all permanent teeth except third molars would most likely have erupted by this age. By the age of 15, the dietary habits of the individuals are more or less established and the permanent teeth have been exposed to the oral environment for 3–9 years, thus making the assessment of caries prevalence even more meaningful at this age [
Adolescents were examined in their respective schools seated in ordinary chair under adequate daylight and facing away from direct sunlight with the help of plain mirrors, standardized dental probes. World Health Organization (WHO) index was used to measure the prevalence of caries activity (2013) [
Statistical assessment was carried out using SPSS program version 20 to do descriptive statistics like mean, standard deviation and proportion was used to describe caries prevalence.
This study aimed to measure the distribution of dental caries among a group of Palestinian adolescents from 12 to 15 year old in northern part of Palestine. The sample size was 677 involving different age groups.
Table
Shows the percentage and number of source population whereby the samples (677) were drawn.
Governorate | Percentage | Number |
---|---|---|
Jenin | 45% | 305 |
Tobass | 20% | 135 |
Qabatia | 25% | 169 |
Alzababdeh | 10% | 68 |
Total |
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|
Table
Shows the distribution of the sample according to the source of population, age, and sex.
Age group | Governorate | Female | Male | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
12 | Jenin | 35 | 23 | 175 |
Tobass | 24 | 19 | ||
Qabatia | 29 | 18 | ||
Alzababdeh | 13 | 14 | ||
|
||||
13 | Jenin | 24 | 21 | 170 |
Tobass | 26 | 16 | ||
Qabatia | 28 | 19 | ||
Alzababdeh | 24 | 12 | ||
|
||||
14 | Jenin | 29 | 21 | 167 |
Tobass | 23 | 14 | ||
Qabatia | 28 | 19 | ||
Alzababdeh | 23 | 10 | ||
|
||||
15 | Jenin | 42 | 18 | 165 |
Tobass | 21 | 9 | ||
Qabatia | 31 | 15 | ||
Alzababdeh | 11 | 18 | ||
|
||||
411 | 266 | 677 |
Table
Shows the prevalence and severity of dental caries mean DMFT in different age groups (12–15 year old).
Age group | Total number | Affected number | Caries prevalence | DMFT (Mean ± SD) | Number of teeth remaining |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
12 | 175 | 71 | 40.57% | 5.52 ± 2.766 | 3997 |
13 | 170 | 71 | 41.76% | 5.58 ± 2.745 | 3929 |
14 | 167 | 101 | 60.47% | 5.23 ± 3.304 | 3655 |
15 | 165 | 125 | 75.75% | 5.23 ± 2.606 | 3132 |
677 | 368 | 54.35% | 5.39 ± 2.85525 | 14713 |
Table
Shows the prevalence and severity of dental caries and mean DMFT in different age groups (12–15 year old) for females.
Age group | Total number | Affected number | Caries prevalence | DMFT (Mean ± SD) | Number of teeth remaining |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
12 | 101 | 50 | 49.50495% | 5.28 ± 2.167 | 2443 |
13 | 102 | 44 | 43.1372% | 6.05 ± 2.803 | 2426 |
14 | 103 | 70 | 67.96116% | 5.31 ± 3.500 | 2276 |
15 | 105 | 92 | 87.6190% | 5.21 ± 2.654 | 2186 |
411 | 256 | 62.28% | 5.39 ± 2.854 | 9331 |
Table
Shows the prevalence and severity of dental caries and mean DMFT in different age groups (12–15 year old) for males.
Age group | Total number | Affected number | Caries prevalence | DMFT (Mean ± SD) | Number of teeth remaining |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
12 | 74 | 21 | 28.37837% | 6.10 ± 3.846 | 1554 |
13 | 68 | 27 | 39.70588% | 4.81 ± 2.512 | 1501 |
14 | 64 | 31 | 48.4375% | 5.03 ± 2.858 | 1378 |
15 | 60 | 33 | 55% | 5.30 ± 2.506 | 946 |
266 | 112 | 42.10% | 5.26 ± 2.891 | 5379 |
The prevalence of dental caries was higher in females with DMFT 5.39 (SD 2.854) than males with DMFT 5.26 (SD 2.891). The total DMFT score for all age groups was 5.39 (SD 2.85525) while the total of the caries prevalence of all age groups was 54.35%.
The study reported here represents the first comprehensive analysis that includes a group of adolescents from 12 to 15 year old in northern part of Palestine. Oral health is an integral part of general health in spite of the fact that it is the most neglected one. The lack of awareness, limitation of access to the dental specialist, and underestimation of the preventive measures, even among the educated class of the society, have placed Palestinian adolescents among the most disease prone nations as shown by Tables
The results showed that the prevalence of dental caries in the permanent dentition was 54.35% (Table
In this study the dental caries prevalence in comparison to other studies was lesser like study done by Shingare et al. who found that caries prevalence in Indian school children in age group 11–14 was 73% while in this study caries prevalence was different and ranged from 40.57% to 60.47% for age groups 12–14 [
In the current study the prevalence of dental caries was higher in females 62.28% than males 42.10%. This finding corresponds with the study carried out by Okeigbemena who mentioned that the prevalence of dental caries in females was higher than males [
High prevalent dental caries was found among Palestinian adolescents from age 12 to 15 years especially in females. The reasons for this would mainly be lack of dental awareness, motivation, ignorance, poor oral hygiene, improper tooth brushing techniques, and inadequate exposure to fluorides. Other contributing factors could be improper dietary habits, longer outdoors stay of children at this age leading to greater consumption of inbetween meals snacks, cariogenic diet, and nutritional deficiencies. Different preventive measures should be applied to different ages and genders based on the findings that their caries prevalence and severity were different. Strict preventive programs should be implemented and awareness of the adolescents’ personal health measures is a must. Further research and investigation with large samples required to include all adolescents from middle and southern Palestine as well as a wide group of Palestinian population.
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper.