ABSTRACT
Objective@#To investigate the health of deciduous teeth and the effect of deciduous teeth caries on the nutritional status of Tibetan children in kindergartens in Zhag-yab of Tibet, so as to provide a reference for the prevention and treatment of dental caries in local children.@*Methods@#A cross sectional survey was conducted among all Tibetan children aged 3 to 7 years in kindergartens from 13 districts in Zhag yab of Tibet, a total of 1 263 eligible children were included. Oral examination, height, weight measurement and hemoglobin test were performed. The health status of children was evaluated according to WHO diagnostic criteria of dental caries rate, average of decayed missing filled tooth(DMFT), malnutrition and anemia, and the correlation between deciduous teeth caries and nutritional status of children were analyzed.@*Results@#The overall deciduous teeth caries prevalence rate of Tibetan children in Zhag yab kindergarten was 62.6%, and the mean dmft was (4.0±4.6). Aged 3, 4, 5, 6, 7-year-old children s deciduous teeth caries rate were 31.1%, 55.3%, 63.8%, 70.9%, 76.6%, respectively, mean dmft were (1.1±2.0) (2.9±3.4) ( 3.5± 3.3) (5.4±5.4) (5.9±6.6) respectively. The prevalence of deciduous teeth caries and mean dmft increased with age, and the differences among age groups were statistically significant ( χ 2/F=72.17, 33.47, P <0.05). The overall detection rate of malnutrition( 25.4% ), stunting(12.3%), underweight(12.6%), wasting(10.9%) and anemia(29.6%) in caries children were higher than those in children without caries(19.5%, 8.1%, 6.1%, 6.6%, 15.5%), the differences were statistically significant ( χ 2=5.81, 5.49, 13.61 , 6.52, 32.02, P <0.05). Caries children s overweight rate (3.7%) was higher than that of children without caries (3.4%), obesity rate ( 1.3% ) was lower than that of children without caries(1.9%), there was no statistically significant difference ( χ 2=0.07, 0.82, P >0.05).@*Conclusion@#The problem of deciduous teeth caries in kindergartens in Zhag yab is serious, and it is closely related to the occurrence of malnutrition and anemia. The prevention and intervention of dental caries in local children should be strengthened.