بررسی شاخص DMFT و وقوع پوسیدگی دوطرفه در دانش‌آموزان 12 ساله شهر رفسنجان در سال 1386

  DMFT Index and Bilateral Dental Caries Occurance among 12-Year-old Students in Rafsanjan-2007     M. Sadeghi [1] , A. Bagherian [2]     Received: 05/07/08 Sent for Revision: 16/10/08 Received Revised Manuscript: 20/01/09 Accepted: 17/02/09     Background and Objectives: Dental caries are the most common chronic childhood disorders and DMFT index is the most important quantitative criterion for measuring tooth health. The purpose of this study was to describe the dental caries prevalence and its bilateral occurrence among 12-year-old students in Rafsanjan in 2007.   Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study a total of 353 (180 boys and 173 girls) were randomly selected from public and private schools. Pupils were examined clinically for dental caries according to World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. Dental examinations were done by using dental mirrors and explorer under artificial light in classrooms. Data were collected by interview and clinical examination was performed by one calibrated dentist and was analyzed using t-test.   Results: The mean DMFT value was 2.46 ± 2 (2.78 boys, 2.13 girls). Decayed (D) component was 75.7%, missing (M) 6.7% and filled (F) 17.6%. There were significant differences in DMFT and their components in relation to gender. The proportion of CF students was 20.7% (16.7% boys, 24.9% girls) and there was no significant difference in relation to gender. The highest prevalance of bilateral caries was in maxillary first and second molars and the lowest prevalance was in maxillary second premolars and mandibular first premolars.   Conclusion: Caries prevalence among 12-year-old students in Rafsanjan is higher than the global standards of WHO for 2010 therefore, improving the existing dental services and performing prevention programme for students seems to be necessary in the future.   Key words: Dental caries, DMFT, Caries free, Bilateral caries     Funding: This research was funded by the Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences.   Conflict of interest: All the authors are among editorial board or editorial staff of JRUMS.   Ethical approval: The Ethical Committee of the Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences approved the study     [1] - Associate Prof., Dept. of Restorative Dentistry, Dental School, University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran   (Corresponding Author) Tel: (0391) 8220031, Fax: (0391) 8220008, E-mail: [email protected]   [2] - Assistant Prof., Dept. of Pediatric Dentistry, Dental School, University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran