Oral health status among secondary school students in Harare, Zimbabwe

In 1993 a demonstration oral care programme to evaluate the ART procedure for dental caries under field conditions began among secondary school students in Greater Harare. The programme was preceded by an oral epidemiological survey. Of the 569 students examined, with a mean age of 13.9 years, 58.7 per cent were caries free. The mean DMFS and DMFT scores were 1.4 and 1.1, respectively. Very few missing and filled teeth were observed. Excluding those with pulp involvement, small dentinal lesions which could not be penetrated with an excavator at the time of examination, constituted 49 per cent of the mean DMFS score. 84 per cent of dentinal lesions needing treatment were judged to be treatable using the ART procedure. Using the index of Green and Vermillion (1964), the mean plaque score was 5.6 with substantial variation observed between the schools. Calculus was observed among 89.5 per cent of the students examined. 18 per cent of them had a central diastema in the maxilla. Crowding or spacing in the upper and lower anterior region of the jaws was observed in 67.5 per cent and 60.5 per cent of the students, respectively. 15.8 per cent were dissatisfied with the position of their teeth whilst 15 per cent indicated that they would like to undergo corrective treatment. It was concluded that these secondary students lack preventive and curative oral care and that the vast majority of the dentinal lesions observed could be treated using the ART procedure.