Relationship between gingival health and dental caries in children aged 7-12 years.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between gingival health and dental caries in elementary school children in Japan. The subjects were 474 children aged 7 to 12 years who attended dental check-ups at an elementary school. The Oral Rating Index for Children, which consists of five categories (+2, +1, 0, -1, -2), was used to rate the findings of the gingival health examination. The dental examination was performed using the WHO caries diagnostic criteria for DMFT. Children were divided into three groups: a healthier group (H-group) made up of those scoring +2 (excellent) or +1 (good), an equivocal group (E-group) made up of those scoring 0, and a gingival less-healthy group (L-group) made up of those scoring -2 (very poor) or -1 (poor). Overall percentages for the H-group, E-group and L-group were 48.3%, 21.5% and 30.2%, respectively. The number in the L-group increased with increasing age. The mean scores of the DT and DMFT in the H-group were significantly lower than those in the L-group (p < 0.01 and p < 0.05, respectively). The results suggest that oral hygiene instruction should be given to children in order to motivate self-care, not only to avoid dental caries but also to prevent gingivitis.
Okada
M
M
Department of Pediatric Dentistry, University Faculty of Dentistry, Hiroshima, Japan. mitsugi@hiroshima-u.ac.jp
Kuwahara
S
S
Kaihara
Y
Y
Ishidori
H
H
Kawamura
M
M
Miura
K
K
Nagasaka
N
N
D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000145:classification* / Q000517:prevention & control; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent; D005260:Female; D005882:Gingival Diseases / Q000145:classification* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005891:Gingivitis / Q000145:classification / Q000517:prevention & control; D006267:Health Education, Dental; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D015588:Observer Variation; D009909:Oral Health; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010512:Periodontal Index; D012648:Self Care; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric