Dental caries prevalence and children's access to dental care in Moldova

Abstract

Objective: To assess dental caries prevalence, need for dental treatment and children's access to dental care in the Republic of Moldova. Materials & Methods: The sample included two groups of 4673 children, randomly selected, aged 1-18, who were clinically examined within the cross-sectional study conducted between 2014 and 2015: 2315 (49.54%) children from the countryside (L1) and 2358 (50.46%) from urban areas (L0). There were estimated indices of dental caries prevalence (IP), caries experience and restoration index (RI). The written consent of children’s parents was taken for the study. SPSS vs.16.0 was used for descriptive and inferential analysis, using both parametric and non-parametric tests. Results: Significant differences were observed between the extent of caries impairment in subjects from the countryside compared to children from urban areas; dental caries being present in 79.40±0.84% children from the countryside compared to 56.49±1.02% children (t=17.32; p<0.001) from urban areas. The mean values of DMFT index in L1 and L0 groups constituted 3.9±0.07 and 1.62±0.04 (t=13.14; p<0.001), respectively. The mean RI value of temporary teeth in children from rural areas was only 7.97±1.02%, while in permanent teeth it was 13.6±2.42%, unlike RI index values of deciduous teeth 39.3±2, 12% and 84.64±14.22% in permanent teeth in children from urban areas (p<0.001). Conclusions: The high level of dental caries morbidity, low RI value and a large number of extracted teeth due to caries complications in children from the countryside show an increased prevalence of need in dental treatment and insufficient dental care provided to this population.