Oral health status and treatment needs in humaidat village

Abstract

This study was part of a field work carried out by the University of Mosul inHumaidat village, which is located about 25km North West of Mosul on the river Tigris .The size of the sample was 310 individuals, 138 males and 172 females, their agesranging between 6-57 years. The aim of the study was to determine the trends of dentalcaries and periodontal disease and compare the results with a previous study canied outin the same village .Clinical examination was carried out inthe village school using a portable dentalchair and adequate light. Diagnosis of dental caries and assessment of dental treatmentneeds was performed according to WHO *1997 guidelines, while the gingival health statusand periodontal treatment needs of the individuals was performed using the CommunityPeriodontal Index Treatment Needs (CPITN) as recommended by WHO 1987 ,Results showed that mean DMFT value for the sample was 5.81 with astatistically significant age difference, although females tended to have higher means thanmales, there was no significant differences between them, mean DMFT values weremuch less than a previous study in the same area, the dental treatment needs showed thatone surface filling was needed as the highest mean for the total sample , followed by 2 ormore surface fillings , extraction and finally pulp care .The periodontal condition of the individuals was very bad, with the disease beingprevalent in 99.7% ofthe population, which is much more than the previous study, morethan three quarter of the sample had calculus as the highest CPITN score, in addition tothe presence of a large percentage of individuals having pockets .The periodontal treatment needs were massive with only 0.3% needing notreatment, health education was required at a range of,% )077-50.79( scaling was needed in 87.7% of the total sample and finally complextreatment needed in 3.88 % of the sample. The village is in need of intensive healtheducational programmes which may be carried out in the health center of the area or inschool settings in order to increase the knowledge about dental disease, helping theindividuals adopt positive attitude towards dental health care .