Caries risk assessment in children from urban and rural areas

Abstract

Objective: To assess caries risk in children from rural and urban areas in the Republic of Moldova. Materials & Methods: Total of 658 children aged between 7 and 18 years were clinically examined. The study included 327 children from urban localities and 326 (49.54%) children from rural localities (L1), and 332 (50.46%) children from urban areas (L0). Complex caries risk assessment was performed via Cariogram software. 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 (p<0.05). Results: Influence of a series of factors was found in the majority of children involved in the study. A very high caries risk was determined in 3,61% children from urban areas and in 11,96% children from the countryside. An extreme caries risk was caused by deficient oral hygiene, high concentration of Streptococcus Mutans in saliva, lack of preventive programs etc. The probability of avoiding the occurrence of new cavities in children from the countryside is 59.19±1.88%, in comparison to children from urban areas – 78.82±1.91% (p<0.001). Caries risk in children from the countryside is 1.33 higher than in children from urban areas. Conclusions: These results highlight the need of developing and implementing prevention programs targeting the determining factors and cariogenic risk groups. Improvement of dental care provided to children from the countryside has to focus on preventing the main dental diseases.