ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To assess the dental caries status and treatment needs of children belonging to the fisher folk communities. METHOD: Two hundred and sixty-seven children up to the age of 14 years were examined using the World Health Organization (WHO) oral health assessment criteria, 1997. RESULTS: The prevalence of dental caries was found to be high in the study population. The unmet treatment need was also high. CONCLUSION: Further research is suggested in order to explore and identify the prevailing aetiological factors responsible for the current status.
Subject(s)
Humans , Infant , Adolescent , Dental Caries/epidemiology , Child , Dental Caries/therapy , Rural Population/statistics & numerical data , Prevalence , Child, Preschool , India/epidemiologySubject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Adult , Life Style , Dentists , Stress, Psychological/epidemiology , Cross-Sectional Studies , Dentists/psychology , IndiaABSTRACT
To determine the sugar consumption pattern of the school children in Belgaum city and to organize for a diet-counseling program. Easy availability of sugar containing food and high consumption of these sweets if continued unabated, the dental caries among children would become a major public health problem. In this instance, Dietary counseling can be just appropriate to inhibit the carious process. 342 school children aged 13 years, from four schools in Belgaum city participated in the study. The pattern of sugar consumption was assessed using a 4-day diet diary. Analysis was done according to the method described by Nizel and Papas (Nutrition in clinical dentistry, 1989, 277) and the variables were: the sweet score, At meal sugar exposure (AMSE), Between meal sugar exposure (BMSE) and Total sugar exposure (TSE). The mean, standard deviation and/or frequency were calculated for all variables. Student's t-test was used to statistically analyze the gender difference. The mean + SD of the recorded variables were: sweet score 31 + 12.78/day, AMSE 0.88 + 0.33/day, BMSE 3.95 + 0.87/day, and TSE 4.83 + 0.96/day. No statistical significant gender difference with respect to the variables was observed. 'Tell Show And Do' Diet counseling session will perhaps have a greater impact as compared to the most common strategy of simply exhorting the children to eat less sugar.