Oral health status of 12 year old children in St. Lucia and its association with oral health knowledge, attitudes and practices

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study was carried out in St. Lucia, one of the islands of the eastern Caribbean. The island's population of 150,000 persons is relatively young, with 45 percent under the age of twenty years. The study sought to determine the oral health status of 12-year-old children and its association with oral health knowledge, attitudes and practices. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was undertaken. Four schools (two rural and two urban) were randomly selected from 14 schools in the north of the island. Simple random sampling was used to select 97 students aged 12 years (15 percent of the school population). Trained dental personnel performed a dental examination and recorded the students' decayed, missing or filled teeth (DMFT) status. The principal investigator (SA) administered a structured questionnaire as well as performed the oral examinations. World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for DMFT surveys were adhered to. The data were collected in July 2000 and analysed using SPSS, version 9. RESULTS: The DMFT level of the students was 2.0, which by WHO standards is low. This compares quite favourably with a 1997 study when the DMFT level identified in an island-wide study was 6.0. It should be noted, however, that 65.3 percent of children had 1 to 7 decayed teeth, 8.2 percent had 1 to 4 missing teeth, with only 9.2 percent have 1 to 2 filled teeth, indicating the need for access to routine dental examination and treatment. Knowledge and practice levels were generally good, which may explain the low DMFT level. CONCLUSION: Dental health education is currently integrated into the school curriculum and is provided by teachers. This would seem to be an effective avenue for dental health education. However, it needs to be supported by increased access to rutine examination and treatment by dental health personnel. Proper planning or oral health education programmes that include oral health education and behaviour modification, along with public health measures such as salt fluoridation, would contribute to further reducing the incidence of oral diseases. (Au)