Dental Caries in 7-17-Year-Old Children in Moscow: A Clinical and a Questionnaire Study

Sparse data is available concerning the distribution of decayed, extracted, filled/decayed, missing, filled tooth surfaces (defs/DMFS) and the impact of influencing risk factors in Moscow. We thus aimed to measure caries experience and to estimate its associations with relevant risk factors in schoolchildren.

Data was obtained from 1004 schoolchildren aged 7-17. The clinical examination included the status of dental plaque, gingival bleeding and caries experience; defs/DMFS. The questionnaire was introduced to the children/parents, in order to measure socioeconomic and behavioural variables. The Fisher Exact test and chi-squared test were used to assess statistical significance of the distribution of the variables among groups. Bivariate and general estimating equations (GEE) analyses were applied to estimate the relative effect of the independent variables on the outcomes defined as median defs and median DMFS.

The median defs and median DMFS varied among age groups. In the primary dentition, the bivariate analyses showed association between median defs and gender, plaque, toothache, self-satisfaction with the appearance of teeth, and intake of milk with sugar were associated (p <0.05). The multivariate analyses revealed that the median defs was lower in girls (OR = 0.9) and children with evidence of no plaque (OR = 0.7)/thin plaque (OR = 0.8), (p ≤ 0.002). In the permanent dentition, the bivariate analyses showed association between median DMFS and plaque, gingival bleeding, healthy dentition, use of toothpicks/dental floss, intake of biscuits etc, soft drinks and jam/honey, and education of the child's mother (p ≤ 0.02). Only gingival bleeding after probing (OR = 1.2) and higher education level of the mothers (OR = 0.9) were associated with the median DMFS in the multivariate analyses (p < 0.05).

Clinical, socioeconomic and behavioural determinants were identified to influence caries in primary and permanent dentition in schoolchildren in Moscow. The findings might provide a reliable basis for improvements and education programmes in oral health promotion for children and adolescents.