Dental caries and oral hygiene status among 6-8 years old schoolchildren in Hanoi and Langson cities, Vietnam.

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine dental caries, oral hygiene and access to dental care among 6-8 year-old schoolchildren dwelling in Langson and Hanoi cities. Materials and Methods: This study was secondary data analysis from Vietnam Five Cities Oral Health Survey (VFCOHS) in 2010. Schoolchildren’s oral health was examined using WHO oral survey methods. This study focused on 1,488 schoolchildren aged 6-8 year-old from Northern cities in the VFCOHS data namely Langson (highland) and Hanoi (metropolitan) cities. The study was approved by the Ethical Research Committee from Mahidol University. Results: Out of 1,488 schoolchildren, 888 from Langson cities and 600 from Hanoi, there were 91.3% affected by caries. In primary dentition, highland schoolchildren had caries prevalence of 93.8% and experience (dmfs = decayed, missing and filled surfaces) of 14.50 (SD=12.14) whereas metropolitan schoolchildren had caries prevalence of 87.5% and dmfs of 6.73 (SD=8.02). In permanent dentition, highland schoolchildren had caries prevalence of 10.1% and DMFS of 0.46 (SD=1.63) while metropolitan schoolchildren had caries prevalence of 19.3% and DMFS of 0.79 (SD=1.91). Findings indicated that schoolchildren with poor and fair oral hygiene had caries twice more than schoolchildren with good oral hygiene (OR 2.09, CI 95%=1.08-4.06). Moreover, highland schoolchildren had higher untreated caries than their counterpart (OR 1.9, CI 95%=1.34-2.71). In addition, all of permanent carious teeth were untreated. Conclusion: This study was revealed differences of access to dental care between metropolitan and highland cities and confirmed that oral hygiene related to dental caries.