Prevalence of Dental Caries and Oral Hygiene Status among Juvenile Prisoners in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

AIM The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of dental caries and oral hygiene status among juvenile prisoners in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 105 prisoners aged between 12 and 17 years of age from the Juvenile Detention Center were included in the study. Any prisoner with systemic illness and being noncooperative were excluded from the study. Clinical examinations were performed under an artificial light source using a disposable mouth mirror and explorer while seated on a portable chair. The dental caries experience was measured as the number of decayed, missing, or filled permanent teeth (DMFT) using DMFT score. The oral hygiene index (OHI) was assessed by the Greene and Vermillion method. The data collected were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 16. RESULTS The mean age of the sample was 16.33 years, with 74.3% of the prisoners in the 16 to 17-year-old group. The dental caries index measured by calculating the mean DMFT of the juvenile prisoners increased with age. The DMFT scores of 9.09 (4.388) for 78 juvenile prisoners aged 16 to 17 years followed by 9.00 (2.925) for 19 prisoners aged 14 to 15 years and 7.13 (1.808) for 8 prisoners aged 12 to 13 years were observed. The oral hygiene status of the prisoners showed that more than half of the juvenile prisoners included in the study had poor (53.3%) oral hygiene and less than half had fair (45.7%) oral hygiene and only one participant demonstrated good oral hygiene. CONCLUSION The juvenile prisoners had high prevalence of dental caries and fair-to-bad oral hygiene, indicating poor oral health status. Furthermore, the study emphasizes the need for special attention from the concerned health authorities, voluntary organizations, and surrounding dental colleges in meeting the oral health needs of this group. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE The study provides an important database for decision makers to take on the challenge of reducing dental caries among juvenile prisoners.