Oral Health Status in Relation to Nutritional Status among 9 years old school Children in Dewanyiah City/Iraq

Abstract

Background: Although they are not life threatening, dental caries and periodontal
disease are the most predominant and widely spread oral diseases throughout the
world. The aims of the study included the investigation of the prevalence and
severity of dental caries, gingivitis and dental plaque in relation to gender,
furthermore, nutritional status was assessed in relation to oral health condition
(dental caries).
Materials and Methods: This oral health survey was conducted among primary
school children aged 9 years old in Dewanyiah city in Iraq. The total sample
composed of 600 child (320 males and 280 females) selected randomly from
different school in Dewanyiah city. Diagnosis of dental caries was according to
the criteria described by WHO (1987). Plaque index of Silness and Loe (1964)
was used for plaque assessment, gingival index of Loe and Silness (1963) was
followed for recording gingival health condition. Nutritional status was assessed
according to body mass index (BMI) indicator using anthropometric measurement
(height and weight).
Results: Results showed that the prevalence of dental caries was 85% for 9 year-old
school children. Regarding primary and permanent dentition, dental caries was
higher among females compared to males with statistically significant difference
(P<0.05) for primary dentition, on the other hand, males showed higher values of
filled surfaces compared to females with statistically significant difference
(P<0.05) for primary dentition and highly significant difference (P<0.01) for
permanent dentition. Finding of this study revealed that 100% of the children had
gingival inflammation. Furthermore, the values of plaque and gingival indices
were higher among males compared to females with statistically highly significant
differences (P<0.01). In current study, the prevalence of malnutrition described by
the BMI indicator was 5.3%. For total samples no significant difference was
recorded in dmfs /DMFS values among wasting and well nourished children
(P>0.05).
Conclusion: A high prevalence of dental caries and gingivitis were recorded.
Improvement in the prevention educational programs is needed among school
children.