[Caries and gingivitis study among preschool children (2-5 years) of the region of Ziguinchor in Senegal. Strategies of prevention]

Abstract

We studied the preschool (2-5 years) group of child's oral health status in Ziguinchor, the southern regions of Senegal. Our objective was to make the inventory of fixtures dealing with dental caries, gingivitis and tartar among the children of this age group. It's a transversal study based on a clinical examination of a sample size of 168 children collected by stratified random sampling in 12 neursey schools in the region. We used carious (dmf/t), gingival and plaque indices to estimate, orodental status of the population constituting the sample. In the lump, 60.71% of the children have a natural history of dental caries with a mean dmf/t of 2.47 and gingivitis and or tartar are observed in 42.86% of the children. Even children less than 3 years are affected. None age may no longer be free from these diseases. That lead us to suggest to set up in this regional area a preventive program involving mainling the parents and the educators and based on the oral health education and the optimal use of dental products with fluoride since the drinking water in the region is poor in fluoride. The aim of this program would be to reduce the prevalence of the diseases in the proportions indicated by the world health organization and even eradicate these diseases among the prescolar children during the coming years as it's going on actually in the developed countries.