Dental Caries Pattern Amongst Tanzanian Children: National Oral Health Survey.

BACKGROUND: Dental caries in young children and adolescents is a public oral health challenge in countries with developing economies and economic transition. This study presents a demographic pattern of dental caries in primary and permanent dentition of 5-, 12-, and 15-year-old Tanzanians based on the 2020 National Oral Health Survey findings. METHODS: This is a cross-section study based on data from Tanzania's 5th National Oral Health Survey. Data on dental caries and basic demographics were collected employing World Health Organization Oral Health Survey protocols. Analysis was done using the SPSS computer programme version 23, and proportions and mean dental caries experiences in Decayed extracted filled teeth in primary dentition/Decayed Missing Filled Teeth in permanent dentition were summarised and chi-square statistics and binary logistic regression assessed the differences and determined the association between dental caries and the selected demographic characteristics. RESULTS: The survey included 2187 participants; 42.4% were from rural areas and 50.7% were female. Overall caries prevalence was 17%, specifically 43.2%, 20.5%, and 25.5% amongst 5-, 12- and 15-year-olds, respectively. Decayed teeth components were 98.4%, 89.8%, and 91.4% amongst 5-, 12-, and 15-year-olds, respectively. Overall mean (SD) DMFT amongst 12- and 15-year-olds were 0.40 (0.27) and 0.59 (1.35), respectively. Urban participants had significantly lower odds of dental caries experience (odds ratio, 0.62, 95% confidence interval 0.45-0.84) compared with rural participants, whilst the 15-year-olds had higher odds of dental caries experience than the 12-year-olds. CONCLUSION: Dental caries prevalence in primary dentition was high. The proportion of decayed teeth components of def/DMFT was the highest compared with that of missing and filled teeth components. Older adolescents and those from rural areas had higher odds of dental caries experience.

Assessing association of dental caries with child oral impact on daily performance; a cross-sectional study of adolescents in Copperbelt province, Zambia.

BACKGROUND: Dental caries and child oral impact on daily performance (C-OIDP) have been linked in several studies. However, the studies used caries indices, which limit the ability to examine how C-OIDP prevalence varies across various stages of the dental caries process. Furthermore, cross-cultural differences between Zambia and other African countries where the C-OIDP instrument has been widely used necessitate testing its pychometric properties. This study's primary aim was to evaluate the association between dental caries and C-OIDP. Secondarily, the study reports the psychometric properties of the C-OIDP index among Zambian adolescents. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted between February and June 2021 among grade 8-9 adolescents in Copperbelt province, Zambia. A multistage cluster sampling method was used to select participants. Using a pretested self-administered questionnaire, socio-demographics, oral health behaviors, self-reported oral health, and C-OIDP were evaluated. The test-retest and internal consistency reliability of the C-OIDP were evaluated. The Caries Assessment and Treatment Spectrum (CAST) was used to evaluate dental caries. Adjusted odd ratios and 95% confidence intervals were used to evaluate the association between dental caries and C-OIDP after adjusting for confounders identified by a directed acyclic graph. RESULTS: Among 1,794 participants, 54.0% were females, while 56.0% were aged 11-14 years. About a quarter (24.6%) had one or more teeth at the pre-morbidity stage, 15.2% at the morbidity, 6.4% at the severe morbidity and 2.7 at the mortality stage. The internal consistency reliability of the C-OIDP Cohen's Kappa was 0.940, while the Kappa coefficients of the C-OIDP items ranged from 0.960 to 1.00. Participants with severe caries had a high prevalence of C-OIDP, with rates for morbidity, severe morbidity, and mortality stages being 49.3%, 65.3%, and 49.3%, respectively. Oral impacts were 2.6 times (AOR 2.6, 95% CI 2.1-3.4) more likely to be reported by participants with dental caries than those without caries. CONCLUSIONS: Dental caries was associated with high reporting of C-OIDP, and C-OIDP prevalence was high among participants in the severe stages of the caries process. The English version of the C-OIDP demonstrated adequate psychometric characteristics for assessing OHRQoL among Zambian adolescents.

Dental caries according to CAST among Zambian adolescents; pattern, socio-demographic and behavioral correlates.

BACKGROUND: Dental Caries affect more than half of children and adolescents globally and more so in Africa. Most caries studies in Africa are based on DMFT index which does not assess early carious lesions making early prevention and minimal invasive treatment impossible. This study therefore aimed at determining pattern, socio-demographic and behavioral correlates of dental caries according to Caries Assessment and Treatment Spectrum (CAST). METHODS: Cross-sectional study involving secondary school adolescents in Copperbelt province, Zambia. Socio-demographics and oral health related behaviors were assessed using a structured questionnaire while dental caries was assessed using CAST. Data were summarized as frequency distributions while cross-tabulation with Chi-squire test and adjusted multinomial logistic regression assessed strength and direction of relationship between socio-demographics, oral health behaviors and dental caries. Level of statistical significance was set at 5%. RESULTS: A total of 1,794 participants were enrolled 54% being females. Total frequency of adolescents with healthy teeth (CAST0-2) was 51.1%, pre-morbidity stages (CAST 3-4) was 24.7%, severe morbidity CAST (6-7) was 6.4% and mortality was 2.7%. The odds of being found with teeth at pre-morbidity stage decreased among male OR (95%CI) = 0.55 (0.44, 0.70) and younger participants OR (95%CI) = 0.77 (0.61, 0.98). Participants in high socio-economic status had lower odds of morbidity OR (95%CI) = 0.69 (0.52, 0.92) while those taking sugary foods five times or more per day had higher odds of morbidity OR (95%CI = 1.52 (1.01, 2.34). The odds of being found at mortality clinical stage of caries was lower among males OR (95% CI) = 0.53 (0.29, 0.96) and those who did not attend to a dentist in the previous year OR (95%CI) = 0.42 (0.23, 0.75), while higher odds OR (95%CI = 2.01 (1.02, 3.97) were among the high socio-economic status. CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of participants with teeth at pre-morbidity and morbidity were high. Socio-demographics and behavioral predictors of dental caries were sex, socio-economic status, frequency of sugary food intake per day and dental visit in the previous year.

Behavioural and Sociodemographic Determinants of Oral Health-related Quality of Life Among Adolescents in Zanzibar, Tanzania.

PURPOSE: To identify and assess the predictors of oral impacts on daily performance among adolescents in Zanzibar, Tanzania. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study among primary school pupils. A single stage cluster sampling design was used. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire which inquired about sociodemographics, oral impacts on daily performance and oral health related behaviours. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20.0 was used for data analysis using chi-squared statistics and standardized logistic regression. The level of significance was set at p ˂ 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 682 pupils aged 12 to 17 years participated in the study. 45.6% of the participants had at least one oral impact, the most common being difficulties in eating (27.9%). Statistically significantly more participants who reported eating between-meal sugared snacks (52.8%) or those who had visited a dentist (55.6%) reported oral impacts on daily performance, compared to their complimentary groups, which did not. The participants who reported having visited a dental clinic were 1.7 times more likely to report having an impact on daily performance than those who had not been to a dentist. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of oral impacts on daily performance was high among the adolescents in the current study. The oral impacts were associated more with behaviour than social differences. Having had a dental visit influenced the oral impacts on daily performances.

Do self-efficacy and depression predict oral impacts on daily performances across time? A 2-yr follow-up of students in Tanzania.

This study aimed to assess the longitudinal validity of the oral impacts on daily performance (OIDP) and to identify psychosocial determinants, in terms of self-efficacy and depressive symptoms, of the OIDP across time. Following conceptual frameworks of oral health, it was hypothesized that sociodemographic, clinical, and psychosocial factors predict oral impacts across time at both population- averaged and person-specific levels. Whether the effects of sociodemographic and clinical factors were accounted for, totally or in part, by psychosocial factors were also investigated. Self administered questionnaires and oral clinical examinations at baseline (2009) and follow-up (2011) were completed by 1,714 and 727 secondary school students, respectively. Generalized equalized equations and a random intercept model were used to account for the dependency in repeated observations. Mean OIDP change scores were negative (worsened) among those who reported worsened self-reported oral health. Psychosocial, clinical, and sociodemographic factors were independently associated with oral impacts at the population-averaged and person-specific levels. Mediation of sociodemographic and clinical variables according to psychosocial variables was not observed. Satisfactory longitudinal evaluative properties of the OIDP, and independent effects of psychosocial factors on oral impacts across time, were confirmed among secondary school students in Tanzania.

Application of Behavior Management Techniques for Paediatric Dental Patients by Tanzanian Dental Practitioners.

BACKGROUND: Management of children's behavior is an integral component of pediatric dental practice. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the oral health care providers' awareness, use and factors for choice of behavior management techniques when attending paediatric dental patients. METHODS: A cross-sectional study among dental practitioners in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Data collection was done through interview using a structured questionnaire. The recorded information included: awareness and application of behavior management techniques (BMT) when attending a child dental patient, factors influencing choice of a particular technique, socio-demographics, level of professional training, working experience and facility profile. Using SPSS program version 18, frequency distributions and cross tabulations analyses were performed. RESULTS: 74 dental practitioners participated in the study, of whom 49 (66.2%) were males and 44 (59.5%) were graduates. Most participants were aware of the behavior management techniques, ranging from 100% for Tell-Show-Do to 86% for distraction. A small proportion (9.5%) reported to have adequate skills, all of them were graduates. The use of universally accepted BMTs was reported by 65% of experienced practitioners, 61% of graduates, 59% of those reporting to have received formal training and all of those reporting to have fair/inadequate skills to apply BMTs (p= 0.01). CONCLUSION: Most participants were aware of BMTs, although few acknowledged having adequate skills to apply the techniques. They use BMTs during treatment of paediatric dental patients and their choice of the technique is mainly influenced by children's factors.

Changes in adolescents' oral health status following oral health promotion activities in Tanzania.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of oral health promotion integrated with a health promoting school (HPS) initiative on the oral health outcomes of secondary school students. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Using an urban-rural stratified cluster randomized approach, the intervention was applied to secondary school students in Arusha, Tanzania. In the urban, three control (n = 315) and two intervention (n = 214) schools performed oral clinical examination and questionnaires at baseline. In rural the corresponding figures at baseline were two (n = 188) and three (n = 360) schools. After 2 years, 374 and 358 students remained in the intervention and control arms. RESULTS: Mean number of decayed teeth (DT) increased in the intervention (mean score 1.0 vs 1.7, p < 0.001) and control schools (mean score 1.2 vs 1.7, p < 0.001). Mean number of teeth with plaque decreased significantly in intervention and control schools. No significant difference in caries increment and plaque decline scores was observed between groups. Mean number of teeth with bleeding decreased (0.5 vs 0.3, p < 0.05) in intervention schools, whereas no change was observed in the control schools (0.4 vs 0.5, p = 0.051). Increment in mean number of DT between baseline and follow-up was largest and smallest in students who, respectively, deteriorated and improved their plaque and bleeding scores. CONCLUSION: The intervention activities did not show any effect with respect to dental caries, calculus and plaque status among the students investigated. Compared with the control group, more favorable changes in the intervention group occurred with respect to bleeding on probing, suggesting a weak but positive effect on students' oral hygiene status.

Discriminative ability of the generic and condition-specific Child-Oral Impacts on Daily Performances (Child-OIDP) by the Limpopo-Arusha School Health (LASH) project: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Generic and condition-specific (CS) oral-health-related quality-of-life (OHRQoL) instruments assess the impacts of general oral conditions and specific oral diseases. Focusing schoolchildren from Arusha and Dar es Salaam, in Tanzania, this study compared the discriminative ability of the generic Child OIDP with respect to dental caries and periodontal problems across the study sites. Secondly, the discriminative ability of the generic-and the CS Child OIDP attributed to dental caries, periodontal problems and malocclusion was compared with respect to various oral conditions as part of a construct validation. METHODS: In Arusha, 1077 school children (mean age 14.9 years, range 12-17 years) and 1601 school children in Dar es Salaam (mean age 13.0 years, range 12-14 years) underwent oral clinical examinations and completed the Kiswahili version of the generic and CS Child-OIDP inventories. The discriminative ability was assessed as differences in overall mean and prevalence scores between groups, corresponding effect sizes and odd ratios, OR. RESULTS: The differences in the prevalence scores and the overall mean generic Child-OIDP scores were significant between the groups with (DMFT > 0) and without (DMFT = 0) caries experience and with (simplified oral hygiene index [OHI-S] > 1) and without periodontal problems (OHI-S ≤ 1) in Arusha and Dar es Salaam. In Dar es Salaam, differences in the generic and CS Child-OIDP scores were observed between the groups with and without dental caries, differences in the generic Child-OIDP scores were observed between the groups with and without periodontal problems, and differences in the CS Child-OIDP scores were observed between malocclusion groups. The adjusted OR for the association between dental caries and the CS Child-OIDP score attributed to dental caries was 5.4. The adjusted OR for the association between malocclusion and CS Child-OIDP attributed to malocclusion varied from 8.8 to 2.5. CONCLUSION: The generic Child-OIDP discriminated equally well between children with and without dental caries and periodontal problems across socio-culturally different study sites. Compared with its generic form, the CS Child-OIDP discriminated most strongly between children with and without dental caries and malocclusion. The CS Child OIDP attributed to dental caries and malocclusion seems to be better suited to support clinical indicators when estimating oral health needs among school children in Tanzania.

Factor structure of health and oral health-related behaviors among adolescents in Arusha, northern Tanzania.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the factor structure of health and oral health-related behaviors and it's invariance across gender and to identify factors associated with behavioral patterns. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study included 2412 students attending 20 secondary schools in Arusha. Self-administered questionnaires were completed at school. RESULTS: Principal component analysis of seven single health and oral health-related behaviors (tooth brushing, hand wash after latrine, hand wash before eating, using soap, intake of sugared mineral water, intake of fast foods and intake of sweets) suggested two factors labeled hygiene behavior and snacking. Confirmatory factor analyses, CFA, provided acceptable fit for the hypothesized two-factor model; CFI = 0.97. Multiple group CFA across gender showed no statistically significant difference in fit between unconstrained and constrained models (p = 0.203). Logistic regression revealed ORs for hygiene behaviors of 1.5, 0.5, 1.5, 1.5 and 0.6 if being a girl, current smoker, reporting good relationship with school, access to hygiene facilities and bad life satisfaction, respectively. ORs for snacking were 1.3, 1.4, 0.4 and 0.5 if female, in the least poor household quartile, low family socio-economic status and high perceived control, respectively. CONCLUSION: The two factors suggest that behaviors within each might be approached jointly in health promoting programs. A positive relationship with school and access to hygiene facilities might play a role in health promotion. Provision of healthy snacks and improved perceived behavioral control regarding sugar avoidance might restrict snacking during school hours.

Socio-demographic and behavioural correlates of oral hygiene status and oral health related quality of life, the Limpopo-Arusha school health project (LASH): a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Promoting oral health of adolescents is important for improvement of oral health globally. This study used baseline-data from LASH-project targeting secondary students to; 1) assess frequency of poor oral hygiene status and oral impacts on daily performances, OIDP, by socio-demographic and behavioural characteristics, 2) examine whether socio-economic and behavioural correlates of oral hygiene status and OIDP differed by gender and 3) examine whether socio-demographic disparity in oral health was explained by oral health-related behaviours. METHODS: Cross-sectional study was conducted in 2009 using one-stage cluster sampling design. Total of 2412 students (mean age 15.2 yr) completed self-administered questionnaires, whereas 1077 (mean age 14.9 yr) underwent dental-examination. Bivariate analyses were conducted using cross-tabulations and chi-square statistics. Multiple variable analyses were conducted using stepwise standardized logistic regression (SLR) with odds ratios and 95% Confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: 44.8% presented with fair to poor OHIS and 48.2% reported any OIDP. Older students, those from low socio-economic status families, had parents who couldn't afford dental care and had low educational-level reported oral impacts, poor oral hygiene, irregular toothbrushing, less dental attendance and fewer intakes of sugar-sweetened drinks more frequently than their counterparts. Stepwise logistic regression revealed that reporting any OIDP was independently associated with; older age-groups, parents do not afford dental care, smoking experience, no dental visits and fewer intakes of sugar-sweetened soft drinks. Behavioural factors accounted partly for association between low family SES and OIDP. Low family SES, no dental attendance and smoking experience were most important in males. Low family SES and fewer intakes of sugar-sweetened soft drinks were the most important correlates in females. Socio-behavioural factors associated with higher odds ratios for poor OHIS were; older age, belonging to the poorest household category and having parents who did not afford dental care across both genders. CONCLUSION: Disparities in oral hygiene status and OIDP existed in relation to age, affording dental care, smoking and intake of sugar sweetened soft drinks. Gender differences should be considered in intervention studies, and modifiable behaviours have some relevance in reducing social disparity in oral health.