[Dental caries prevention program in children and adolescents living in residential institutions]

Was to assess the effectiveness of a new dental caries prevention program in children of various ages living in residential institutions.

The program of oral health promotion and caries prevention was introduced in the autonomous non-profit organization «Social rehabilitation center Solba». The study comprised 98 children aged 12-17 years divided into two groups: the main group of 52 children aged 12-16 years enrolled in the program in 2013 in pre-school (32 children) and primary school age (20 children) and the control group of 46 adolescents aged 12-17 years not included in the program. DMFT and OHI-S index were compared in both groups as well as in children enrolled in the program at various ages.

The overall caries prevalence was 84.7%. Statistically significant differences were documented between children enrolled in the program in pre-school and primary school ages regarding both caries prevalence (78% and 89%, respectively) and intensity (3.5 and 5.4 tooth, respectively (p=0.01)). Non-satisfactory, poor and very poor OHI-S was observed in 15.4% of children in the main group and 54.3% of controls. Good oral hygiene was seen in 67.3 and 37%, satisfactory - in 17.3 and 8.7% of children, respectively (p<0.05).

Programs of dental caries prevention with oral health promotion component are effective for oral hygiene improvement in children living in residential institutions. The key for long-term effectiveness and dental caries prevalence and intensity reduction is the start of the program in pre-school age and education of caregivers and teachers to provide control of dental care in pre-school and primary school children.