Abstract
Aims: To investigate the prevalence of dental caries and treatment needs in preschool and school children attending the International school of Prishtina (ISP). This is private school and children who attend ISP have parents with high income.
Methods: Dental examinations based on the World Health Organization (2013) criteria were performed in October 2015 on all 408 children aged 3 to 15 years old who attended the school. Permission to examine the children was given by the school authorities. The examinations were performed at the Marigona dental clinic, which is directly opposite the school, by one of three examiners, who had calibrated and achieved a Kappa score of 0.89. The teeth were clinically examined with standard dental instruments using visualtactile method under standard dental light. The DMFT and dmft indices were recorded as well as the significant caries index (SiC).
Results: Amongst the 58 children, with deciduous teeth only, the mean dmft was 3.7. Among the 210 mixed dentition children , the mean DMFT was 1.3 and the mean dmft was 4.0. Among the 140 children who only had permanent teeth, the mean DMFT was 3.7. The mean DMFT for international students was 1.3 and mean dmft 2.1. The highest mean DMFT (4.8) was found in children aged 12-15-years-old.
Conclusion: The results show high prevalence of caries among preschool and school children of the ISP.
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