Occurrence of Rampant Caries Among Adults Attending Kuwait Dental Clinics

Objective: To determine the occurrence of adult rampant caries among patients attending dental clinics in Kuwait. Methods: Dental clinics in 6 Primary Health Centers from each of the 5 Governorates in Kuwait were randomly selected, making a total of 30 selected dental clinics. The dentists at these clinics were requested to record the total number of patients seen each day, as well as the total number of adult rampant caries cases seen within 1 month. Adult rampant caries was defined as the presence of at least 8 open carious lesions, with at least one anterior tooth involved in a patient aged 16 years or older. After informed consent from the patients, the dentists collected information on age, gender, nationality, level of education and socio-economic status, based on monthly income of the patients. In addition, a questionnaire that elicited similar information was administered on 38 dentists who attended a lecture course in Cariolgy. Results: Adult rampant caries was recorded in 0.26% of 11,538 patients that attended the selected dental clinics in 1 month, and their mean age was 37 years (range 16-60 years). However, the questionnaire study estimated the occurrence of the disease in 3% of 7,373 patients. Two-thirds of the patients that attended the dental clinics had primary and secondary education, and only 21% had no formal education. ANOVA showed that cases of adult rampant caries were significantly higher (p<0.001) among patients of lower socio-economic group as compared to those from high or medium income group. Conclusion: Adult rampant caries occurs in at least 0.26 % of patients attending the Kuwait dental clinics, and is more prevalent in those in the lower socio-economic group. This work was supported by the Kuwait University Research Administration Project DR01/05.