Archives

This paper reports on the oral health status in a random sample of  1,027 subjects aged 12 to 74 years who received oral examination at 12 sites of Nepal including the urban areas of Kathmandu and Kirtipur, and the rural areas of surrounding villages in the Kathmandu valley in three years between 1997 to 1999. The subjects were selected and investigated for age cohorts according to the basic methods of W.H.O. In the 12-year-age group, the mean number of teeth present/person was 21.26 with 95.7 % teeth intact, and the mean DMFT score was 0.90. In the 15-year-age group, the mean number of teeth present/person was 27.94 with 94.6 % teeth intact, and the mean DMFT score was 1.52. In the 35~44 years of age group, the mean number of teeth present/person was 30.14 with 90.4 % teeth intact, and the mean DMFT score was 2.52. In the 65-74 years of age group, the mean number of teeth present/person was 24.6 with 80.9 % teeth intact, and the mean DMFT score was 8.93. The results showed significantly greater scores of DMFT in the urban areas compared to those in the rural areas at the ages of 12 years and 15 years, which indicate the effect of urbanization on oral health in human life. In view of the fact that, majority of the population retained their teeth in a functional state in all age groups, motivation of self-care oral hygiene and community oral health education is recommended as the most appropriate dental health program in the country.

Caries prevalence and experience; dental caries; epidemiology; intact teeth; Nepal; oral health.