EVALUATION OF DENTAL CARIES STATUS DMFT AND PUFA IN PERMANENT MOLARS ON PRIMARY SCHOOL IN AL-NAJAF/ IRAQ

Abstract

Background: Oral diseases and traumatic injuries are serious public health problems, especially when talking about children. The most widespread oral disease in developing countries has been found to be dental caries. The maintenance of healthy permanent molars is very important. DMFT and PUFA index can be used to determine the caries status and severity in untreated carious teeth of an individual. Aims: to discover the prevalence and severity of dental caries in permanent first molars amongst 8–10 years of children in Al- Najaf city, Iraq. Materials and methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive survey that included 1232 children between the age group 8-10 years from schools of Al-Najaf, Iraq. Dental caries was assessed using DMFT index, and the severity of caries was evaluated by PUFA index for permanent first molars. Result: The prevalence of first permanent molar caries in Al-Najaf city was 56.1% (n=691) out of 817 children of 8-10 years of age were affected with caries evaluated using DMFT index. The severity of first permanent molar caries (PUFA index) was found to be 38.7 %. That is the children had more severe first permanent molar caries. Conclusion: Caries prevalence and severity increase with age. PUFA index is an effective index in evaluating the clinical sequel of untreated carious teeth and helps better treatment plans for a socially deprived group of society.

Keywords: Dental caries, DMFT, PUFA, first permanent molar.