Caries risk assessment among school children in Benin City

Abstract

Objective: To assess the caries risk of children aged 6 to 12 years in public and private schools in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 210 schoolchildren aged 6 to 12 years in  public and private schools in Benin City, Edo State. Data collection was done with the aid of a researcher administered  American Dental Association (ADA) caries risk assessment form. A Chisquare test was used to test associations between  two categorical variables at a 5% level of significance.

Results: Data was obtained from two hundred and ten (210) participants, aged 6 to 12 years with a mean age of 9.81+1.5. Majority of the participants were females (52.4%), 10- yearolds (27.6%) and those whose parents are manual workers (52.4%). Among the 210 children, 18(8.6%) were in low, 124(59.0 %) in moderate and 68(32.4 %) in the high-risk category. The most prevailing variable for the moderate risk category was the non-establishment of dental home while for the high-risk category, it was the frequent/prolonged  inbetween meals, sugary food or drinks exposure per day. Bivariate analysis revealed that there was an increased percentage of respondents in the high caries risk category with increasing age, among those children whose parents are manual workers, and those in public schools. Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that males were less likely to have a high caries risk; private school attendees were less likely to have high caries risk; respondents whose parents were manual workers were more likely to have high caries. The relationship between the socioeconomic status of parents and school type with caries risk category was statistically significant. (p < 0.05)

Conclusion: The moderate risk  was the predominant caries risk category in this study population. Frequent/prolonged inbetween meals, sugary food or  drinks exposure per day was the most dominant factor for high risk, and respondents whose parents are manual  workers are more likely to have high caries risk.