An Inter-country Study of Clinical Oral Health and Socio-economic Status

Objective: A pilot study was conducted to describe the caries status of a sample population in three countries, namely, Bristol-United Kingdom (UK), Texas-United States of America (USA) and Western Cape- Republic of South Africa (RSA), in terms of socio-economic status (SES), age, gender and rural/urban locations. Methods: A cross-sectional survey using standard WHO criteria and data collection format was conducted. The sample consisted of 525 subjects (154 in USA, 177 in UK and 194 in RSA) stratified into three age groups (12 years, 16 years and adults [>18 years]), location (rural/urban), gender and SES (high/low) within each country. Results: The DMFT and treatment needs were significantly related to SES across all age groups in RSA only. Untreated caries and missing teeth is the predominant problem in the low SES (LSES) group across all ages. There was a greater need for fillings in the 12 and 16 year LSES cohorts. In both the UK and RSA, the DMFT is significantly higher in the 16 year olds compared to the 12 year olds. However, in the USA it is higher in the 12 year olds, and they need twice as many fillings than the 16 year olds. The USA 12 year olds has a significantly higher DMFT than the UK and RSA 12 year olds. All age groups had a low need for extractions. Conclusions: Only the RSA showed a significant difference in DMFT between high and LSES. The difference in dental caries prevalence between the 12 and 16 year olds in all countries needs to be urgently addressed. Acknowledgement: This pilot study was funded by the NIH, grant number R21 DEO 13704-01.