Prevalence of Tooth Decay and Associated Factors in North-Benin Schools in 2014

Introduction: The oral - dental pathologies as tooth decay raise a serious public health problem in the world. They remain a reason of morbidity related to the access to treatment and socio-economic problems. Objective: The aim of this research was to study the prevalence and the factors associated to the tooth decay in scholar environment in Parakou in 2014. Methods: It was across sectional descriptive and analytic survey which has taken place from May to June 2014. School children aged five to fourteen years old in public primary schools of Parakou were included. The sampling was probabilistic and multi-stages (three degrees). The school children and their mothers answered a questionnaire completed with an oral-dental examination. Results: Our survey was based upon 536 school children and their mothers. The mean age of the school children was 9.61 years ± 1.82 year and the sex - ratio was 1.22. The tooth brush was the most used brushing instrument used (60.82%). In 60.82% of the cases, the school children consumed sweets at least once a day. The average DMFT index was of 1.23. The prevalence of tooth decay was 38.62%. Factors associated with the tooth decay were the consumption of sweets (p=0.032), the control of teeth cleanness by parent after brushing (p=0,007), the dental pains (p=0,000), the education level (p=0,000) and the living environment (p=0,000). Conclusion: These results confirm the existence of the tooth decay among scholars. It is necessary to implement preventive measures among them.