Early childhood caries in Moshi, Tanzania.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence, severity and pattern of early childhood caries (ECC) in Moshi Municipality, Tanzania. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Moshi Municipality, Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania. SUBJECTS: Three hundred and seventy two randomly selected children aged three to five years (157 males and 215 females) in 2008. RESULTS: Overall caries prevalence was 30.1% with no significant gender difference (p>0.05). The severe form of ECC that attacks primary maxillary incisors occurred in 21.2% of the children. The mean dmft score was 0.95 (SD +/- 1.81). The decay component was 0.87 (SD +/- 1.71), whereas the missing component was 0.08 (SD +/- 0.41). There was no significant gender difference in the mean dmft scores (p>0.05). Among the posterior teeth, mandibular last molars had the highest caries prevalence (12.4%) and for the anterior teeth, the maxillary central incisors had the highest caries prevalence (21%). Majority of the affected children had three or less teeth affected. The sample mean plaque score was 0.57 (SD +/- 0.46) with no statistical gender difference (p>0.05). A total of 174 (46.8%) parents/guardians responded to the questionnaire. Caries risk and experience was significantly higher in children with guardians and in children with history of falling asleep with the breast in the mouth respectively (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Most of the affected children had ECC in the anterior and posterior segments. In the anterior segments, the maxillary teeth were affected more frequently than the mandibular teeth, while in the posterior segments the mandibular teeth were more frequently involved than the maxillary teeth. Significantly higher caries prevalence was found in children under the care of the guardians, children who had slept with breast in the mouth and those with higher sugar moments as the result of snacking.

Morphological and functional traits of malocclusion in 3-5 year-olds in Moshi, Tanzania.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the morphological and functional traits of malocclusion. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Moshi Municipality, Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania. SUBJECTS: Examination for occlusal traits was done on 372 randomly selected 3-5-year olds (157 males and 215 females). RESULTS: The overall prevalence of malocclusion was 26.9%. Females had significantly more occlusal anomalies than males. The flush terminal plane (93.8%) was the commonest anteroposterior relation. Excessive maxillary overjet and deep-bite occurred in 5.1% and 21.5% of the children respectively. Reverse overbite (1.9%), frontal open-bite (1.6%), lateral open-bite (0.8%) and posterior cross-bite (0.3%) were relatively rare. Harmful oral habits were uncommon in this population. The sample mean for inter canine width in the maxilla was 31.1 mm (SD +/- 2.72) and for the mandible 25.3 mm (SD +/- 2.46). Lack of natural spacing in the anterior segment of the maxilla occurred in 34.4% of the children and 33.6% in the mandible. CONCLUSION: Generally, females had significantly more occlusal anomalies than males. The flush terminal plane was the commonest anteroposterior finding. Lack of natural spacing in the anterior segments and deep bite were common.

Orthodontic treatment needs among 12-15 year-olds in Moshi, Tanzania.

OBJECTIVE: To assess malocclusion and orthodontic treatment needs among 12-15-year-olds in Moshi municipality, Tanzania. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. SETTING: Moshi municipality, Tanzania. SUBJECTS: Two hundred and eighty nine randomly selected primary school children in Moshi municipality in the year 2003. RESULTS: Maxillary median diastema occurred in 20.1% of the children. Crowding and spacing in the incisor segments occurred in 41.2% and 28.4% respectively with significantly more crowding in males than in females (p = 0.009). Anterior irregularities occurred in 46% of the sample in the maxilla and 51.6% in the mandible. These irregularities were significantly more common in the females than in males in the maxilla and mandible (p = 0.014, p = 0.037 respectively). Reverse overjet was extremely rare (0.3%). Anterior openbite and antero-posterior molar relation discrepancies occurred in 6.2% and 32.5% of the sample, respectively. Crowding, irregularities in the incisor segments and antero-posterior molar relation discrepancies were dominant malocclusion traits in this population. The sample mean DAI score was 24.6 points (CI 95% 23.86-25.36). There was no statistically significant gender difference of DAI scores (p = 0.473). About 65% of the subjects had either no need or had slight need for treatment whereas 35.3% were found with orthodontic treatment needs ranging from elective (21.5%), highly desirable (6.9%) to mandatory (6.9%). There was no significant gender difference in the categories of treatment need (p = 0.942). Unmet orthodontic treatment needs were present in this population with a very small proportion of subjects exhibiting handicapping malocclusion. CONCLUSION: The information from this study forms part of the basis not only for further research, but also for planning orthodontic care in this community where unmet orthodontic treatment needs are present.

Prevalence of malocclusion among 12-15-year-olds in Moshi, Tanzania, using Bjork's criteria.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of malocclusion in 12-15 -year-olds in Moshi, Tanzania. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Moshi Municipality, Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania. SUBJECTS: Two hundred and eighty nine randomly selected primary school children (153 males and 136 females) had a clinical examination for malocclusion traits done. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of malocclusion was 97.6%. Angle's Class II and III malocclusion occurred in 6.9% and 11% of the sample respectively. Crowding was encountered very frequently in both jaws, especially in the lower anterior segments. Anterior open bite occurred in 6.2% and the deep bite in 10.7% of the sample. There was no significant gender difference in either the overall prevalence of malocclusion or in the occurrence of the different occlusal traits. CONCLUSION: It was noteworthy that some of the malocclusion traits recorded were relatively minor deviations from the normal occlusion. Hence the high prevalence of malocclusion did not necessarily imply a heavy burden of need and demand for orthodontic treatment.

Awareness and concern about malocclusion among 12-15 year-old children in Moshi, Tanzania.

OBJECTIVE: To assess awareness and concern about malocclusion in 12-15 year-olds in Moshi, Tanzania. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. SETTING: Moshi Municipality in Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania. SUBJECTS: Two hundred and ninety eight randomly selected Public primary school children aged 12-15 years (158 males and 140 females). RESULTS: About 56% of the respondents thought their teeth were properly aligned. However only 29.1% of the respondents reported being dissatisfied with the way their teeth appeared in their mouth. About 25% of the respondents found their teeth to have been worse than most of their age-mates. Children who reported to have been teased due to their malocclusion comprised 25.8%. Those who thought it was unpleasant to stay with malaligned teeth constituted 55.7% of the respondents. Subjective orthodontic treatment need was reported by 69.1% of the sample. Majority of the children (75%) were ready to accept orthodontic treatment. There were significant correlations between factors of awareness and those of concern about malocclusion among the subjects. CONCLUSIONS: In spite of very little orthodontic treatment exposure in this population, awareness and concern about malocclusion was reported by a significant proportion of the children. These findings form a baseline line for future studies on the trends of awareness and concern towards malocclusion in this population. They will also be useful in the planning of orthodontic services in Tanzania.