A school-based dental health program in Wuhan city China

The Chinese National Oral Health Survey showed that the prevalence of dental caries is very high particularly in school children and that few proactive measures are used to control the disease. Objective: A school-based project was initiated with the objective of improving the overall dental health of children in the school system of Wuhan City P.R. China. This report presents the baseline data for the study population. Methods: An adequately equipped school-based two chaired dental clinic was established in a primary school in Wuhan City. The program includes dental examinations, oral health education, fluoride therapy, application of dental sealents and the placement of stainless steal crowns, all the work is planned to be finished by senior dental students. A sample population of 1,193 pupals from grade 1 to 4 (6-11 years) are included in this project. The baseline examination results including DMFT (dmft) and DMFS (dmfs) and prevalence of dental caries is evaluated. Caries were diagnosed by the criteria recommended by the WHO Oral Health Survey (1997). Results: The prevalence of dental caries is 61.1% and 13.3% in primary and permanent teeth respectively. The prevalence of fissure caries is 57.3%. The mean decayed teeth in the dmft component is 1.7 of which 71% is occlusal caries (11.2/1.7). 82% of the mean filled teeth are on the occlusal surface (1.8/2.2) less than 20% of the teeth were filled. Conclusion: The baseline data demonstrates the need for a preventive program in this population. Further studies are planned to determine the effectiveness of this project finished by senior dental students. This study was supported by Project HOPE.