Dental Caries among a Ugandan Rural Population

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to assess factors influencing the prevalence and experience of dental caries among rural communities in Rakai district. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study involving 321 subjects (males/females: 169/152), aged 18 - 92 (mean 38.8+/-15.5) years. The respondents were clinically examined for dental caries using DMFT index as described by World Health Organisation and were interviewed for background information by 4 trained dentists. RESULTS: Caries prevalence was 57.3% and the mean DMFT was 2.3 +/-3.7 in the whole material. D- and M-components contributed 39% and 61%, respectively. No filled tooth was recorded. Age, sugar consumption and tobacco smoking, were positively and significantly associated with DMFT scores (p<0.05). Gender had no significant influence on caries prevalence and experience (p>0.05). Tooth cleaning and previous dental treatment were negatively and significantly associated with DMFT scores (p<0.05), but the type of tooth cleaning device (plastic tooth brush or chewing stick) did not show any significant difference (p>0.05). In multivariate analyses, age, previous dental treatment, sugar consumption, tooth cleaning and tobacco smoking explained a total of 16 % of the variations in DMFT scores. CONCLUSION: Caries prevalence and experience were relatively low in this population and the M-component was the major contributor of the DMFT scores. Although a number of independent variables were significantly associated with caries they gave a modest explanatory effect. The study was financially supported by Sida/SAREC grant