Oral Health Status of 12- and 15-Year-Old Students in Qatar: Findings From the National Oral Health Survey

BackgroundThe national oral health survey-Qatar was carried out in 2011 in an attempt to establish the baseline information about oral health status among youth. This article describes the oral health status of 12 and 15-year-old students in Qatar.
MethodsCross-sectional survey data were analyzed for 12 (N=1060) and 15 (N=1064) year-old students. The caries status based on decayed, missing, filled teeth or DMFT=0 (no caries) & DMFT≥1 (caries present). Mean indices among nationalities and sex were compared by student’s t-test. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare means by the type of the school. Logistic regression was used to examine associations among available variables.
ResultsIn the overall sample, 53.3% (n=565) of 12-year-olds and 55.4% (n=589) of 15-year-olds had varying levels of dental caries. The odds of dental caries were higher among girls compared to boys aged 12 years (OR=1.3, CI=1.0-1.6, P=0.05) as well as 15 years old (OR=1.28, CI=1.01-1.6, P=0.04) respectively. By nationality, Qatari students had a higher mean DMFT value (1.3 ± 1.2) compared to non-Qataris (0.82 ± 1.1). The public/independent attendees had higher mean DMFT values (1.31 ± 1.2) compared to the other two school categories. Fifteen-year-old students had lower odds (OR=0.81, CI- 0.68-0.97, P=0.02) of gingival bleeding and higher odds (OR=1.68, CI=1.4-2.1, PConclusions The results provide directions to further strengthen the oral health strategies through various evidence-based interventions.Background