Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Sep;27(3):256-262.
doi: 10.21101/cejph.a5314.

Caries prevalence among schoolchildren in urban and rural Croatia

Stjepanka Lešić  1 , Walter Dukić  2 , Zdenka Šapro Kriste  3 , Vesna Tomičić  4 , Snježana Kadić  5
Affiliations

Caries prevalence among schoolchildren in urban and rural Croatia

Stjepanka Lešić et al. Cent Eur J Public Health. 2019 Sep.

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate caries prevalence in a sample of schoolchildren aged 6 to 16 years from rural and urban areas in Croatia.

Methods: Using standardized World Health Organisation (WHO) criteria, the oral health status of 1,589 children (265 from rural and 1,324 from urban areas) was assessed by recording the following indices: DMFT (decayed, missing, filled permanent teeth), deft (decayed, extracted, filled primary teeth), DMFS (decayed, missing, filled surfaces - permanent teeth), defs (decayed, extracted, filled surfaces - primary teeth) and SiC (Significant Caries Index). Rural areas were Štitar and Babina Greda municipalities in Slavonia and urban areas were the cities of Županja (Slavonia), Zagreb and Dubrovnik.

Results: Half of the examined children (50.0%) had caries (D component in DMFT), with 46.0% of these being from urban and 70.2% from rural areas. The median DMFT among children was 2, 4 (rural) and 2 (urban) (p < 0.001). Among 12-year-olds, the median DMFT was 4 (rural) and 3 (urban), and mean DMFT was 3.4. The median DMFS for rural area was 5 and for urban area 3 (p < 0.001). The median deft was 1.00 for rural and 1.00 for urban, while the highest value was found among 6-year-olds at 9 in rural and 7 in urban areas. The median SiC was 4, 4 (urban) and 5 (rural).

Conclusion: Schoolchildren from urban and rural areas in Croatia differ significantly in caries prevalence. They fall into the medium DMFT classification group according to the WHO, which indicates the need for a comprehensive oral health preservation programme.

Keywords: DMF index; cross-sectional studies; dental caries; epidemiology; paediatric dentistry; preventive dentistry.

PubMed Disclaimer