Oral health status of 13-year-olds from the ELSPAC study

The ELSPAC project (European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood) organized by WHO has been conducted in several European countries including the Czech republic aimed at identifying the features of the lifestyle and environmental conditions beneficial to the health of mothers and children. The aim of the present study is to gather oral health data of children from the ELSPAC group monitored in the city of Brno. Randomly selected children (ELSPAC) (n=83) were clinically examined for dental and periodontal status, dental plaque and orthodontic anomalies and the means of the DMFT score and components, Restorative index, treatment need and the prevalence of orthodontic anomalies were calculated. Data obtained were compared with those of the countrywide survey (CWS) of 12 (n=316) and 15 yr-olds (n=352) in 2003. Statistical processing: linear extrapolation of both age groups from CWS to 13 years; differences between ELSPAC and CWS tested by Student T-test and Fisher exact test (P=0.05). ELSPAC vs. CWS: age- 13.14, 13.14 (NS); DMFT- 2.25, 2.80 (NS); DT- 0.33, 0.34 (NS); RI (%)- 81.6, 85.0 (NS); caries free (%) 30.1, 26.9 (NS); at need of restorations (%)- 7.2, 20.6 (P Keywords: Elspac study, dentistry, caries experience, gingivitis, oral epidemiology