Abstract
Aim: The aim of the study was to assess the level of oral health among dental students who attended the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Montenegro.
Methods: The study was carried out in 2013. and included 114 of the 120 students in the Faculty that year, who volunteered to take part. Their age was 18-23 years. The University deemed it unnecessary to obtain ethics approval for study. The study had two components. The first involved the completion of a questionnaire. This was followed by a clinical examination. Prior to receiving the questionnaire, the students were informed about the aims of the study and their confidentiality was assured. They then signed an informed consent form. The clinical examinations were performed by two calibrated examiners who achieved an inter-examiner kappa score of 0.93. The following clinical assessments were made: DMFT index and its components and CPITN. WHO (1997) methodology and criteria were followed and the students were examined under artificial light in a dental chair and their teeth had been dried.
Results: The average value of the DMFT index for the dental students in the sample was 9.2. Only, 9 students (7,9%) had a DMFT score of zero. Untreated caries was found in 58 teeth (5.5% of all teeth). There were 887 teeth that had been filled (84.6% of all teeth) and 104 teeth were missing (9.9% of all teeth). Thirty seven students (32.4%) had a healthy periodontium (CPITN = 0), 51 (44.9%) had gingivitis (CPITN=1), 17 (14.9%) had calculus present (CPITN= 2) and 9 (7,8%) had shallow periodontal pockets (CPITN = 3).
Conclusions: Periodontal health was generally better in these dental students than in the general population of 18 - 23 year-olds in Montenegro. However, the relatively high average DMFT score indicated that the students would have benefited from caries preventive services during their school or preschool years.
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