title: Oral health status of patients seeking emergency dental care in Transkei.
abstract: The oral health status of a rural Black population seeking dental treatment was determined at three separate locations in Transkei. Of the patients who presented for treatment 92 per cent were suffering from acute or chronic pain. The main reason for seeking care was pain resulting from dental caries (84 per cent). Inadequate oral hygiene practice was uniformly evident in all the patients at the three locations, as well as within all the age groups. The pattern of gingival bleeding was also comparable by age and location and its distribution closely parallelled the oral debris scores. The mean DMFT for the total population (n = 290) was 5,7 (s.d. 6,1); and 17,0 per cent were caries-free. Caries was more widespread and severe in the patients at the military base in Port St Johns where the mean DMFT of 10,6 differed greatly from the mean DMFT scores of patients at Port St. Johns (3,6) and Elliotdale (4,5). Untreated dental decay accounted for a large percentage of the DMFT at all three sites but in the military group, the untreated decay component, (60,4 per cent of the DMFT), was the highest. With the stratification of the data by age, the average DMFT (8,4), was highest in the 31-50 age group.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Rudolph
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Brand
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009909:Oral Health; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D013019:South Africa