Prevalence of malocclusion among 5 387 12- to 14-year-old adolescents in Jiangxi province, China: an epidemiological study / 华西口腔医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#We provided baseline data for oral public health through epidemiological surveys to investigate the prevalence of malocclusion and orthodontic treatment proportion in 12- to 14-year-old adolescents in Jiangxi province, China.@*METHODS@#Multi-stage random cluster sampling was used. A total of 5 387 12- to 14-year-old adolescents were examined by three professional dentists according to Angle's classification of malocclusion. The subjects were recruited from 30 secondary schools in five counties in Jiangxi Province. Results were statistically analyzed by SPSS19.0.@*RESULTS@#The prevalence of malocclusion was 79.67% among adolescents aged 12-14 years in Jiangxi province. The composition ratios of ClassⅠ, Class Ⅱ Division 1, Class Ⅱ Division 2, and Class Ⅲ malocclusion were 30.96%, 16.36%, 12.78%, and 19.13% respectively. ClassⅠmalocclusion had the highest composition ratio, and the most common clinical manifestation of malocclusion was dentition crowding with a prevalence of 91.30%. The prevalence rate of malocclusion was higher in boys than in girls at 81.16% and 78.21%, respectively (P<0.05). This condition had different prevalence rates in Nanchang, Yichun, Jiujiang, Shangrao, and Ganzhou (P<0.05) with the highest in Nanchang and lowest in Ganzhou. Malocclusion was related to caries, and its prevalence rate was higher in patients with caries than in those without caries (P<0.05). The orthodontic rate of malocclusion was 2.63%, and the value was higher for girls than that for boys (P<0.05). The rate of orthodontic in urban areas was higher than that in rural areas (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#Compared with local and international findings on malocclusion of adolescents, high prevalence and low orthodontic rate were found in Jiangxi province. Strengthening the combination of prevention and treatment is important for the physical and mental health of adolescents. We should actively conduct oral health education, popularize the knowledge of malocclusion, and actively treat caries.

Status and strategies of oral health service demand and medical treatment utilization among 3- to 5-year-old preschool children in Jiangxi province / 华西口腔医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#This study aimed to investigate the oral health service needs and dental treatment among 3-year-old to 5-year-old preschool children in Jiangxi province and provide data to support the development of relevant oral health policies, enhance the oral health service utilization and visit rate, and optimize oral manpower and service resources.@*METHODS@#A total of 2 880 preschool children were selected via stratified cluster sampling. Dental examination methods and criteria according to the fourth national oral health epidemiological survey were adopted. Excel 2007 and SPSS 19.0 softwares were used for statistics analysis. Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were performed.@*RESULTS@#The caries prevalence was 49.13% (1 415/2 880) among the 2 880 cases of 3-
year-old to 5-year-old preschool children in Jiangxi province, approximately 53.37% (1 537/2 880) of which possessed oral health service needs. The parents of younger children assessed the oral situation better in older age than in their younger years (P<0.05), which was better in urban children than in rural children (P<0.05). The visiting rate of all the respondents was 12.33% (355/2 880), while the visiting rate of children with oral diseases was 17.31% (266/1 537). The top three reasons why patients did not visit the dentist were as follows: children's teeth have no problem, the teeth damage in teeth was considerably minimal, and primary teeth would be replaced without the need for treatment. The influencing factors included lower visiting rate in females than in males (OR=0.499, 95%CI: 0.411-0.606) and lower visiting rates in rural areas than in urban areas (OR=0.428, 95%CI: 0.353-0.519). Subjects with poor oral health and high oral knowledge scores possessed high dental service visit rates.@*CONCLUSIONS@#The prevalence of caries in 3-year-old to 5-year-old preschool children in Jiangxi province is at a lower level than that in the national level. The proportion of the population actively seeking medical services is low, and their main purpose of treatment is to treat rather than prevention. Oral health education should be strengthened, and it should be incorporated to the contents of the kindergarten teacher training program to improve residents' awareness regarding children's oral health.