Dental caries: experience in relation to wasting and stunted growth among schoolboys in Abha, Saudi Arabia

The aim of this study was to assess the dental health status of Saudi schoolboys in an urban city in the southwestern region of Saudi Arabia, and to investigate the association of dental caries with wasting and stunted growth.

A two-stage stratified random sample of 959 schoolboys representative of the 6 to 13 year-old school population in Abha were subjected to dental examination. Using the WHO criteria, decayed, missing and filled teeth were determined, and the prevalence of caries for each age group was determined by means of decayed and filled primary teeth (dft), and decayed, missing and filled permanent teeth (DMFT) epidemiological indices. The children were also subjected to weight and height measurements and their values were compared with the local growth standards.

The total prevalence of caries-free children was 14.6%. The mean dft values at ages 6, 9 and 12 years were 6.53, 3.97 and 1.07, respectively (P<0.001), while the mean DMFT values were 0.16, 0.83 and 1.23 for such ages (P<0.001). After adjusting for age and social class, the wasted children were found to have a higher caries prevalence in the primary dentition than the well-nourished children (P<0.01), while children with stunted growth exhibited lower caries prevalence in the permanent teeth (P<0.05).

Comparisons with international goals for oral health by the year 2000 show that the goal for 12 year-olds with respect to the status of the permanent dentition has been attained, but not the goal for 5-6 year olds with respect to caries-free primary teeth. It is likely that nutritional status may have different effects on susceptibility to caries of deciduous and permanent teeth.