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Disparities in oral health of children in Tehran, Iran

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Abstract

Amis: This was to investigate the association between parents’ educational level and oral health of Iranian primary school children. Methods: Data came from the voluntary clinical examination in 2005 of a random sample of 459 third-year primary school children in the 16 schools in Tehran, together with a self-administered questionnaire regarding information on the educational level of the parents. The study used the dmft/DMFT values for dental status, and the CPI, and PI to assess periodontal condition. Statistics: One-Way ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests were used. Results: The mean dmft value was 4.2 (SD±2.9) in boys and 3.4 (SD±2.6) in girls for the whole study group. The children of the low education parents had more dental caries than those of high education parents in both primary (p< 0.01) and in permanent teeth (p< 0.05). A strong association was found between high parental education and restorations in primary teeth (p< 0.001), but only a trend for restorations in permanent teeth. Mean number of sextants with a CPI score 0 was significantly associated with parents’ educational level (p< 0.01). Conclusion: The disparities in the oral health of children need to be considered when developing oral health promotion programmes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Dentistry, Dept. of Oral Public Health, University of Helsinki, P.O.Box 41, FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Z. Saied-Moallemi,  J. I. Virtanen & H. Murtomaa

  2. School of Dentistry, Shahid Beheshti Medical University, Tehran, Iran

    Z. Saied-Moallemi & A. Tehranchi

Authors
  1. Z. Saied-Moallemi
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  2. J. I. Virtanen
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  3. A. Tehranchi
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  4. H. Murtomaa
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Correspondence to J. I. Virtanen.

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Saied-Moallemi, Z., Virtanen, J.I., Tehranchi, A. et al. Disparities in oral health of children in Tehran, Iran. Eur Arch Paediatr Dent 7, 262–264 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03262563

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03262563

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