Abstract

GARCIA-CORTES, José O et al. Dental caries' experience, prevalence and severity in Mexican adolescents and young adults. Rev. salud pública [online]. 2009, vol.11, n.1, pp.82-91. ISSN 0124-0064.

Objective Determining dental caries' experience, prevalence and severity in students applying for degree courses at San Luis Potosi University (UASLP). Material and Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out involving adolescents and young adults (16 to 25 years old) applying for undergraduate courses at UASLP (~10 %, n=1 027). Two standardized examiners undertook dental examinations; DMFT index, prevalence (DMFT>0), severity (DMFT>3 and DMFT>6) and significant caries index (SiC) were calculated. STATA 9.0 non-parametric tests were used for statistical analysis. Results Mean age was 18.20±1.65; 48.0% were female. The DMFT index was 4.04±3.90 and caries prevalence was 74.4%. Regarding caries' severity, 48.8% had MDFT>3 and 24% DMFT>6. The SiC index was 8.64. Females had higher caries experience than males (4.32±4.01 cf 3.78±3.78; p<0.05), but similar prevalence and severity (p>0.05). Age was associated with both experience (p<0.001) and prevalence (p<0.01) and to differing degrees of caries' severity (p<0,001). The «filled teeth» component had the highest DMFT index percentage (63.6%) and «missing teeth» the lowest (11.4%). Conclusions High dental caries' experience, prevalence and severity were observed in this sample of adolescents and young adults. Restorative experience was high (59.5%) compared to studies carried out in other parts of Mexico and Latin-America.

Keywords : Oral health; dental caries; adolescent health; Mexico.

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