Abstract
Aims: To determine the trends of the two major dental diseases (dental caries and periodontal disease) in a group of 13-15 year old intermediate school and their treatment needs. Materials and Methods: A total of 516 intermediate school students were examined. Dental caries and treatment needs were as-sessed according to the WHO 1997 guidelines. The assessment of the gingival health and treatment needs of the students was performed using the CPITN index as recommended by the WHO 1987. Six index teeth were examined and the presence of gingival bleeding and calculus was recorded. Results: Dental caries in the sample has increased with a mean of 5.17. Dental caries increased with age with a statistically significant age difference. Females tended to have a higher DMFT of 5.5 compared to males 4.79 with significant difference, only 6.6% of the sample was caries free. The majority of the samples needed one surface fillings with a mean of 3.6/child. Other dental treatments were needed to a lesser extent. Regarding the periodontal status, the disease was present in 97.5% of the sample, there was no significant age difference regarding periodontal health. Females tended to have a healthier gin-giva compared to males with significant difference. Regarding periodontal treatment needs, 97.5% of the sample required dental health education, while 65.9 % required professional scaling and polishing. Conclusions: To improve children’s oral health, community school-based oral health educational pro-grams should be established starting from primary and extending to intermediate schools, stressing on sugar restriction and oral hygiene measures, fluorides and fissure sealants can effectively be used too.
