title: Oral health status of 16-year-old school children in Malaysia.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to determine the oral health status of 16-year-old Malaysian school children. The prevalence of caries was 75.5%. More than 60% of subjects had caries experience by teeth (DMFT) scores of 0-3. The largest component of the DMFT and caries experience by surface index was the filled component. Females had higher caries prevalence and caries scores than males. The mouth and tooth prevalences of enamel defects were 56% and 21.8%, respectively. The most common type of enamel defects observed were diffuse opacities, affecting 95.5% of affected subjects and 92.1% of affected teeth. One-third of subjects had healthy gingival conditions, 8.6% had bleeding gingivae, 55.1% had calculus and 3% had pockets. Less than 1% of subjects wore or required dentures. Cleft lip and/or palate was uncommon. This study shows that the prevalence of caries and DMFT scores have declined over the last 30 years.
authors.affiliation: Department of Children's Dentistry and Orthodontics, Dental Faculty, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. nnoriah@um.edu.my
authors.forename: Nik Noriah
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Nik-Hussein
authors.forename: Khairiyah
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Abdul Muttalib
authors.forename: Nooral Zeila
authors.initials: NZ
authors.lastname: Junid
authors.forename: Mohamed Nasir Wan Othman
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003744:Dental Enamel Hypoplasia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007180:Incisor / Q000293:injuries; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009909:Oral Health; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010512:Periodontal Index; D015995:Prevalence; D014082:Tooth Fractures / Q000453:epidemiology