A Cross-Sectional Study of Oral Health Status and Behavioral Risk Indicators among Non-Smoking and Currently Smoking Lithuanian Adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate oral health status, behavioral risk indicators, and the impact of smoking on oral health among Lithuanian adolescents. This representative cross-sectional study was conducted among 15-year-old Lithuanian adolescents. The method of multistage cluster sampling was used. A total of 1127 adolescents met the inclusion criteria. Two originally created self-reported questionnaires were used in this study. Dental caries, periodontal status, and oral hygiene status were evaluated by four trained researchers. A p-value ≤ 0.05 was set to indicate statistically significant differences. Statistical analysis included Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, and Spearman correlation tests. Out of all the participants, 9.6% self-reported being a current tobacco smoker. The mean PI value was 1.14 ± 0.69 among all the participants. Currently smoking adolescents had more active caries lesions (D-S) than those who did not smoke (13.2 ± 16.4 vs. 9.8 ± 10.7, p = 0.023). Considering periodontal status, non-smoking adolescents had significantly lower mean PSR index scores than current smokers (0.52 ± 0.51 vs. 0.61 ± 0.50, p = 0.0298). Tobacco smoking and the consumption of energy drinks were significantly associated (OR = 3.74, 95% CI 2.66-5.26, p < 0.001) among participants. Currently smoking adolescents tended to have improper dietary habits, especially a higher consumption of energy drinks; thus, they were more likely to have active dental caries lesions, as well as poorer periodontal status, than their non-smoking peers.

Dental Fear and Associated Factors among Children and Adolescents: A School-Based Study in Lithuania.

Dental fear is a challenging problem in dentistry and many contributing factors have been identified. Although this problem among children and adolescents has been studied in the literature for a long time, few such studies have been conducted in Lithuania. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of dental fear and examine its association with gender, age and several psychological and social factors among children and adolescents in Lithuania. The cross-sectional survey included a randomly selected sample (n = 1590) of children aged 11-14 and adolescents aged 15-18. The data were supplemented by interviewing the parents of these subjects (n = 1399). Dental fear was measured with a single five-score question. The data collection also included questions on oral health, socioeconomic status, oral health-related quality of life and self-esteem. Poisson regression analysis was used to assess the association between perception of dental fear and potential predictor variables. It was found that 32.2% (95% CI: 29.9-34.4%) of children and adolescents reported no fear of dental treatment, 12.5% (10.8-14.2%) of their peers were highly afraid of dental treatment, and other subjects assessed their dental fear gradually. Girls reported greater dental fear scores than boys, but the level of dental fear did not depend on the age. We identified the groups of subjects by gender and age, and a higher level of dental fear was significantly associated with untreated caries experience, a delay in the age of the subject's first visit to the dentist, low self-esteem, low oral health-related quality of life, low overall life satisfaction and low family affluence. The results also suggested that dental fear could originate from previous toothache, dentists' actions, high sensitivity in the child and poor psychological readiness for treatment. It was concluded that dental fear among Lithuanian children and adolescents is a common problem that is associated with gender and several dental, psychological and social factors. The findings indicate that school-based health policies, paediatric dentists and parents should be encouraged to focus on the psychosocial factors associated with dental fear because most of them can be prevented.

Relationships of Dental Caries and Malocclusion with Oral Health-Related Quality of Life in Lithuanian Adolescents Aged 15 to 18 Years: A Cross-Sectional Study.

There is a lack of evidence of the moderating effects of caries lesions and malocclusions on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) among older adolescents. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship of dental caries and malocclusion with OHRQoL among Lithuanian adolescents aged 15 to 18 years. A survey in a representative sample of adolescents included a clinical examination to assess dental health status using the DMFT (Decayed, Missing, and Filled Permanent Teeth) index, and malocclusion using the Index of Complexity, Outcome, and Need (ICON). The Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ) was used to evaluate respondents' OHRQoL. Negative binomial regression was fitted to associate the clinical variables with the CPQ scores. A total of 600 adolescents were examined. The overall mean DMFT score was 2.7. A need for orthodontic treatment was detected among 27.7% of adolescents. Subjects with caries lesions (DMFT > 3) had higher CPQ scores in the domains of functional limitations and social wellbeing (relative risks were 1.35 (95% confidence interval: 1.09-1.67) and 1.30 (1.03-1.64), respectively), while subjects with a need for orthodontic treatment (ICON > 43) had higher CPQ scores in the domains of emotional wellbeing and social wellbeing (relative risks were 1.81 (1.40-2.22), and 1.69 (1.34-2.14), respectively). It was concluded that both dental caries and malocclusion have negative relationships with OHRQoL in adolescents above 15 years, but their effects occur differently in each OHRQoL domain.

Dental caries risk indicators in early childhood and their association with caries polarization in adolescence: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Based on the hypothesis that biological and social risks accumulate during life, it is important to identify possible dental caries risk indicators from the life course of early childhood and assess their association with caries polarization in adolescence. METHODS: A cross-sectional design was applied to the study, and a multistage cluster sampling method used to draw a representative sample of 1063 18-year-old Lithuanian adolescents. The dental examinations were performed according to the methodology for oral status evaluation recommended by the World Health Organization. Parents of the participating adolescents completed a self-administered questionnaire about their children's life course during early childhood. The interdependence of characteristics was evaluated by chi-square (χ (2)) and Student's (t) criteria. A multivariate logistic regression model with the Significant Caries (SiC) index as an outcome was performed. RESULTS: The mean scores for the number of decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) and decayed teeth (DT) in the SiC positive group were higher than the corresponding values in the SiC negative group (6.14 [SD, 2.30] and 1.67 [SD, 2.02] vs 1.28 [SD, 1.11] and 0.34 [SD, 0.69], p < 0.001, respectively). Three dental caries risk indicators were identified that were independently associated with a SiC positive outcome: gender(OR = 1.32 [95 % CI: 1.01-1.73]), earlier eruption of the first primary tooth(OR = 1.43 [95 % CI: 1.03-1.97]), and past caries experience in the primary dentition (OR = 1.62 [95 % CI:1.22-2.14]). CONCLUSIONS: These study findings provide reliable evidence that gender, earlier eruption of the first primary tooth, and past caries experience in the primary dentition should be considered to be dental caries risk indicators and may have an adverse effect on caries polarization in adolescence.

Prevalence and severity of dental caries among 18-year-old Lithuanian adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence and severity of dental caries among 18-year-old Lithuanian adolescents and to disclose possible differences in the prevalence and severity of dental caries related to gender, urbanization, and different county. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 1063 18-year-old adolescents attending school, 427 boys and 636 girls from 10 Lithuanian counties including urban and rural areas, were included in the cross-sectional study on dental caries. The method of multistage cluster sampling was used. The dental examination was performed according to the methodology of oral status evaluation recommendations by the World Health Organization (WHO). The prevalence of dental caries, DMFT score, Significant Caries Index, and dental care index were determined. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of dental caries among 18-year-old Lithuanian adolescents was 78.3%. The study population had a mean DMFT score of 2.93 [SD, 2.81]. Considering the gender, a higher DMFT score was observed among girls than boys (3.03 [SD, 2.88] versus 2.73 [SD, 2.71]) and in rural than urban areas (3.02 [SD, 2.98] versus 2.89 [SD, 2.73]). The Significant Caries Index and the dental care index among 18-year-old adolescents were 6.14 and 62.3%, respectively. CONCLUSION: This study showed a relatively high prevalence of dental caries. The existing differences of caries experience between the urban and the rural areas as well as between the counties could be influenced by the socioeconomic differences in the country.

Changes in dental caries and oral hygiene among 7-8 year-old schoolchildren in different regions of Lithuania 1983-2009.

The objectives of this study were to evaluate and compare the changes of the dental caries prevalence and severity of 7 to 8 year old schoolchildren in six Lithuanian regions over the past 26 years (1983-2009) and to propose recommendations based on the results of the study. The study is based on the analysis of data, containing 576 cases of children examined in 1983 and comparison with data containing 531 cases added in 2009. The studies were conducted in the same six regions of Lithuania among the children from 7 to 8 years of age. For the study of children the WHO oral assessment methodology was used (WHO Basic methods 1997). Severity of dental caries was described by df-t and DMF-T index. The average of individual df-t and DMF-T indices was calculated for all subjects and sorted by gender. Oral hygiene status was evaluated by applying the simplified Green-Vermilion index-OHI-S (1964) The prevalence of primary dental caries among the children 7 to 8 years of age was 92.4% in 1983 and 88.7% (p=0.43) in 2009. The prevalence of permanent dental caries decreased from 49.6% in 1983 to 29.7% (p<0.001) in 2009. Mean df-t score decreased from 4.9±3.4 in 1983 to 4.1±2.7 in 2009 and DMF-T index decreased from 1.1±1.7 in 1983 to 0.5±1.0 in 2009 (p<0.001). The OHI-S index was not significantly different during 1983-2009. In the period of last 26 years a tendency towards the decrease in the prevalence and severity of dental caries was observed. That could be related to the frequent using of the toothpastes with fluoride, as well as implementation of the caries prevention program with sealants among the children of that age. The poor oral hygiene and comparatively high caries prevalence in schoolchildren show that it is still necessary to improve preventive measures in Lithuania.