Assessment of deciduous dentition in 6-10 year old school children

Abstract

Introduction. The emergence of deciduous teeth in the mouth of a child usually brings a joy to every parent. However, after 'short-time euphoria' deciduous teeth, in most cases, become the cause of pain, swelling, infection and further complications. The aim of this study was to assess the status of deciduous teeth in school children. Material and Methods. The study included children age 6-10 years from four cities in Republika Srpska. All respondents were divided in two groups: Group I included those who voluntarily came to be examined at the dental clinic and the Group II-those who were randomly chosen in schools. The examination was performed using dental mirror and probe. Caries verification was carried out by Klein-Palmer system, dmft (d - decay; m - missing; f - filling), and its related indices: Person caries index (pci) and Average caries index (aci). In addition, a survey was conducted. Results. A total number of 228 respondents were examined. Total pci was 96.1%. On average, each child had aci= 4.17 while 10.52% of the children had fillings in primary teeth. None of the children had sealed fissures on deciduous teeth. Physical examination revealed that 12.2% of the children had submucous abscess in oral cavity. The survey revealed that 3% of children did not have a tooth brush. Conclusion. The prevalence of caries in primary teeth is high, despite the fact that the Health Insurance Fund in Republika Srpska covers full cost for complete restoration of teeth in children up to 15 years old. Responsibility for the low percentage of healthy and filled teeth is relying mostly on parents as well as the entire community that should provide development and availability of public health dental care in all areas.

Uvod. Nicanje mlečnih zuba najčešće izaziva radost svakog roditelja. Međutim, nakon 'kratkotrajne euforije' ovi zubi kod većine dece postaju uzrok bola, otoka, infekcije i dodatnih komplikacija. Cilj ovog rada bio je da se proceni stanje zdravlja mlečnih zuba dece školskog uzrasta. Materijal i metode rada. U istraživanje su uključena deca uzrasta 6-10 godina iz četiri grada u Republici Srpskoj. Ispitanici su svrstani u dve grupe: grupa I je obuhvatila one koji su se svojevoljno javili na pregled u stomatološku kliniku, a grupa II one koji su izabrani metodom slučajnog izbora u školama. Pregled je urađen stomatološkom sondom i ogledalom. Potvrda karijesa izvršena je prema Klajn-Palmerovom (Klein-Palmer) sistemu kep (k - karijesni zub; e - ekstrahovan zub; p - plombiran zub) i njemu srodnim indeksima - karijes indeks osoba (kio) i prosečni karijes indeks (kip). Kao dodatak istraživanju korišćena je anketa. Rezultati. Pregledano je ukupno 228 ispitanika. Ukupna vrednost kio bila je 96,1%. U proseku, svako dete je imalo 4,17 obolelih mlečnih zuba (kip), dok je 10,52% dece imalo ispune na mlečnim zubima. Ni kod jednog deteta nije bilo zalivenih fisura na mlečnim zubima. Pregledom je kod 12,2% dece uočen submukozni apsces (parulis) u usnoj duplji. Iz ankete je ustanovljeno da 3% dece uopšte nema četkicu za zube. Zaključak. Rasprostranjenost karijesa na mlečnim zubima je visoka i pored činjenice da Fond zdravstvenog osiguranja deci do 15 godina u Republici Srpskoj snosi celokupne troškove sanacije zuba. Za mali procenat zdravih, kao i saniranih zuba odgovornost treba da preuzmu roditelji, ali i celokupna društvena zajednica, koja treba da obezbedi razvijenost i dostupnost zdravstvene stomatološke zaštite na svim područjima.