Dental caries experience and availability of sugars in Iraqi children before and after the United Nations sanctions.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the changes in levels of sugar consumption and concommitant dental caries experience in Iraqi children in relation to United Nations Sanctions (UNS) on Iraq.

METHODS

Before and after UNS a selection of a random sample of school children aged 6-7, 11-12 and 14-15 years of two urban socio-economic groups (Urban 1 and Urban 2) and seven rural communities was done. A total sample of 3,015 and 2,977 individuals were dentally examined before and after UNS, using the WHO dmft/DMFT indices.

RESULTS

Sugar consumption dropped from 50 kg/person/year before UNS to 12 kg/person/year after UNS. The dmft for 6-7 year old Urban 1 and Urban 2 children was respectively 6.5 and 8.8 before and 3.3 and 4.6 after UNS. For 6-7-year-old rural children the dmft was 1.9 before and 0.7 after UNS. For 11-12-year-old Urban 1 and Urban 2 children the respective DMFT was 5.4 and 8.7 before and 2.5 and 2.9 after UNS. The DMFT levels for 11-12-year-old rural children were 1.3 before and 0.5 after UNS. For 14-15-year-old children the DMFT for Urban 1 and Urban 2 children was 5.9 and 10.7 before and 2.7 and 2.9 after UNS, whereas in 14-15-year-old rural children it was 1.8 before and 0.9 after UNS.

CONCLUSIONS

Reductions in sugar availability due to sanctions was related to marked caries reductions in Iraqi children over a 5 year period.