The comparative study on dental caries rate between children who attended and did not attend the special program Buriram Province.

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to study the dental caries rate in children aged 6-36 months, and compared the rate of dental caries between children who attended and did not attend the special program. 1,403 of children aged 6-36 months who got the health services with dental health personnel at health centers and hospitals in October 2005 were included as the research samples. The collected data composed of general information, age, gender, care takers history of attending the special program and dental caries status. The result showed that 1,403 children aged 6-36 months composed of 50.6% of male and 49.4% female. Dental caries had appeared in children aged 7 months and increased by age. The rate of dental caries in children aged 6-72 months was 6.1% and increased up to 37.9% in the age of 31-36 months with the increasing of mean of dental caries from 0.1 to 1.22 teeth per one person. The rate of dental caries between children who attended and did not attend the special program were 12.1% and 22.6% respectively, the difference between two groups was statistical significant (P<0.05) and moreover the study found that the rate of dental caries at the age of 6-12 months, 13-18 months and 19-24 months of children who attended and did not attend the special program were statistically significant different (P<0.05) but not significant different in the age of 25-30 months and 31-36 months. The researcher concluded that this special program might help the children aged 6-36 months because the overview of dental caries rate was decreased, but the follow up process at the age of 24 months of this program should be developed so as to stimulate the parents for looking after their children continuously and working with groups of parents, care takers and also people in the community in order to control sweet snacks consuming.