Oral health status of 12-year-old school children in Yemen. A cross- sectional survey.

Objective: This study aims to describe the oral hygiene practices and the oral health status of 12-year-old school children of Aden, Yemen.

Methods: Multistage stratified cross-sectional survey. Methods: A cross- sectional survey of randomly selected schools in the city was performed. Four hundred 12-year-old students were recruited in the study from both private (N. 200) and government schools (N. 200). In total 219 boys (54.8%) and 181 girls (45.2%) participated in this study. Scoring of decayed, missing, filled teeth (DMFT) and the Community Periodontal Index (CPI) scores were computed according to the WHO recommendations.

Results: Mean DMFT was 2.22±1.56 and DMFT >0 was seen in 90.2% of the study subjects. The D component of the caries index was dominant and it was clinically evident in 84.7% of the students. Children having high cariogenic food consumption had significantly (P<0.001) higher mean DMFT, DT, MT and FT. Children who used only toothbrush were found to have significantly (P<0.001) lower caries experience as compared to those who used only miswak or those who used both. About 63% of the students has CPI=2 and less than 20% had CPI=0. Children who brushed regularly were found to have better CPI scores. Multivariate analysis showed that diet (ORa = 1.56; 95% CI= 1.82-2.44) was significantly associated with dental caries. Methods: data were analysed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences for Windows 17.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).

Conclusions: The overall oral health of the 12-year-old school children is poor. More emphasis has to be given school based and community based oral health promotion and preventive programmes.