Orthodontic care and dentition status in children

Parents’ knowledge of risk factors of caries and the need to visit a dentist for routine check-ups affect the children’s dentition status in the future. Lack of activities in this field often results in premature loss of deciduous teeth and it adversely affects a position of permanent teeth undergoing eruption.

Aim
To compare the dentition status of children under the care of an orthodontist and of children who are not covered by orthodontic care, and to assess the effects of parents’ education on the dentition status of their children.

Material and methods
The study included 232 children from primary schools in Lublin (110 boys and 122 girls). The age of subjects was between 6 years to 8 years and 11 months. The study included a survey questionnaire for parents and a clinical examination of children. The number of DMFT and dmft was calculated in each child based on a clinical examination. In the study population the incidence of caries (Fp) and mean numbers of dmft (for deciduous teeth) and DMFT (for permanent teeth) were calculated.

Results
In the study group of children 12.93% were receiving orthodontic treatment with removable appliances, 10.78% were supervised by an orthodontist or were orthodontic treatment scheduled, and 75.86% of studied children had never been at an orthodontist’s office. One person (0.43%) did not provide answers to questions asked. Children receiving orthodontic care had significantly lesser carious defects in their deciduous teeth compared to children who were not receiving such care.

Conclusions
1) Providing orthodontic care to children had a beneficial effect on their dentition. 2) It is worth to pay more attention to prophylaxis of caries and to supervise the process of dentition replacement. 3) It is necessary to promote health-promoting education regarding caries and malocclusions among parents.