Oral health status of 16-year-old school children in Malaysia.

The aim of the present study was to determine the oral health status of 16-year-old Malaysian school children. The prevalence of caries was 75.5%. More than 60% of subjects had caries experience by teeth (DMFT) scores of 0-3. The largest component of the DMFT and caries experience by surface index was the filled component. Females had higher caries prevalence and caries scores than males. The mouth and tooth prevalences of enamel defects were 56% and 21.8%, respectively. The most common type of enamel defects observed were diffuse opacities, affecting 95.5% of affected subjects and 92.1% of affected teeth. One-third of subjects had healthy gingival conditions, 8.6% had bleeding gingivae, 55.1% had calculus and 3% had pockets. Less than 1% of subjects wore or required dentures. Cleft lip and/or palate was uncommon. This study shows that the prevalence of caries and DMFT scores have declined over the last 30 years.

Comparison of arch form between ethnic Malays and Malaysian Aborigines in Peninsular Malaysia.

OBJECTIVE: To determine and compare the frequency distribution of various arch shapes in ethnic Malays and Malaysian Aborigines in Peninsular Malaysia and to investigate the morphological differences of arch form between these two ethnic groups. METHODS: We examined 120 ethnic Malay study models (60 maxillary, 60 mandibular) and 129 Malaysian Aboriginal study models (66 maxillary, 63 mandibular). We marked 18 buccal tips and incisor line angles on each model, and digitized them using 2-dimensional coordinate system. Dental arches were classified as square, ovoid, or tapered by printing the scanned images and superimposing Orthoform arch templates on them. RESULTS: The most common maxillary arch shape in both ethnic groups was ovoid, as was the most common mandibular arch shape among ethnic Malay females. The rarest arch shape was square. Chi-square tests, indicated that only the distribution of the mandibular arch shape was significantly different between groups (p = 0.040). However, when compared using independent t-tests, there was no difference in the mean value of arch width between groups. Arch shape distribution was not different between genders of either ethnic group, except for the mandibular arch of ethnic Malays. CONCLUSIONS: Ethnic Malays and Malaysian Aborigines have similar dental arch dimensions and shapes.

Validity of Demirjian and Willems methods for dental age estimation for Malaysian children aged 5-15 years old.

BACKGROUND: One of the most commonly used method for dental age assessment is the method reported by Demirjian and coworkers in 1973. It was later modified by Willems and coworkers whereby they "performed a weighted ANOVA” in order to adapt the scoring system. AIM: To evaluate the applicability of Demirjian and Willems methods for dental age estimation for Malaysian children and to correlate the accuracy of the findings with the chronology of tooth development of premolars and second molars. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 991 dental panoramic radiographs of 5-15-year-old Malaysian children were included in the study. The mean Demirjian and Willems estimated ages were compared to the mean chronological age. RESULTS: The mean chronological age of the sample was 10.1±2.8 and 9.9±3.0 years for males and females respectively. Using the Demirjian method, the mean estimated dental age was 10.8±2.9 years for males and 10.5±2.9 years for females. For Willems method, the mean estimated age was 10.3±2.8 years males and 10.0±3.0 years respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Willems method was more applicable for estimating dental age for Malaysian children. Overestimation in Demirjian method could be due to advanced development of second bicuspids and molars.