Caries Experience in Turkish and German Children in Westphalia

Objectives: The purpose of the study was to assess the changes in caries prevalence from 1993 to 2003 in 12- and 15-year old Turkish immigrants and to compare them with the oral health in German children attending the same secondary modern schools (SMS) and with German children attending grammar schools (GS). Methods: Caries was diagnosed according to WHO criteria (1987), the DMFT was calculated (SAS database) and comparisons were made (Tuckey’s Student range test; á = 0.05). Results: At baseline in 1993 the mean DMFT in 12- and 15-year old Turkish children was lower with 2.0 DMFT and 3.1 DMFT than in German children attending the same schooltype with 2.5 DMFT and 5.2 DMFT and similar to German children at grammar school with 1.8 DMFT and 3.2 DMFT, respectively. Within ten years at SMS the mean DMFT remained unchanged in 12- and 15-year old Turkish children with 1.7 DMFT and 3.1 DMFT in 2003, respectively. In German 12- and 15-year-olds the mean DMFT declined to a similar value as registered in their Turkish classmates with 1.8 DMFT and 2.7 DMFT, respectively. German children attending grammar school showed a declining prevalence from 1.8 to 0.3 DMFT in 12–year-olds and from 3.2 to 1.0 DMFT in 15-year-olds. In both age groups differences between caries prevalence at SMS and GS were statistically significant in 2003. While the proportion of caries free children remained unchanged overtime in 12- and 15-year old Turkish children with 37.5% and 28.8% in 2003, the number for 12- and 15-year old German children increased to 49.0% and 29.0% at SMS and to 83% and 58% at GS, respectively. Conclusion: Turkish children did not contribute to the caries decline reported for Central Europe and oral health seems to be correlated to the educational level.