Oral health status of peri-urban schoolchildren in Accra, Ghana

Aim: To update and add to the sparse information available on the dental disease experience of Ghanaian children. Method: A cross-sectional survey where all 4-16-year-old schoolchildren in a peri-urban community of Accra, Ghana, were examined. Three primary schools had been selected by the school authorities for the study. Results: Plaque scores ranged from 78.9% in the 4-5-year-olds to a high of 97% in the 6-year-olds with the older age groups occupying intermediate levels. The proportion with calculus ranged from a low of 40% in the 4-5-year-olds to a high of 67% in the 13-16-year-olds. Gingival disease increased with age from slight to low in the lower age groups and increasing significantly from 12 years to 16 years. Caries experience was low to very low from a high of a DMFT score of 1.11 (SE 0.07) in the 7-9-year-olds to a low of 0.30 (SE 0.06) in the 13-16-year-olds. Conclusion: Sustained community preventive dental activity needs to be instituted in both rural and urban regions to prevent and control both caries and periodontal diseases and to prevent future increases in the caries rates as has been experienced in some developing countries.