Assessment of DMFT and enamel hypoplasia among junior high school children in Iran.

AIM The main purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence and distribution of decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) and enamel hypoplasia in 12-year old students in junior high school in Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS This descriptive study was carried out in 2001 on 1,223 12-year old students, which were randomly selected in Yazd and Hadi-Shahr, Iran. A questionnaire was designed to record the status of the teeth along with the occupational and educational levels of parents. Data was analyzed using SPSS software, the Chi-square test, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). RESULTS The mean DMFT score was 1.8 +/- 1.75 and 28.6% of the students were caries-free. There was no significant relationship between DMFT and the rate of dental caries with parents' education and occupation. The percentage of enamel hypoplasia was 32.7%. No statistically significant relationships were found between hypoplasia and DMFT with regard to gender. The relationship between enamel hypoplasia with DMFT score and dental caries was statistically significant. CONCLUSION In the present study findings for DMFT scores in 12-year old junior high school children are higher than global standards according to the World Health Organization (WHO) references for the year 2000. There was a strong association between enamel hypoplasia and dental caries, and this subject suggests early diagnosis of enamel defects, health education programs, and suitable treatments should be emphasized in junior high school-aged children.