Aimond Guillaume, Thivichon-Prince Béatrice, Bernard-Granger Célia, Gisle Coline, Caron Tatiana, Jiokeng Andre Valdese, Majoli Stefano, Maurin Jean-Christophe, Ducret Maxime, Laforest Laurent
Faculté d'Odontologie, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 69008 Lyon, France.
Pôle D'Odontologie, Hospices Civils de Lyon, 69007 Lyon, France.
Children (Basel). 2023 Aug 16;10(8):1396. doi: 10.3390/children10081396.
Access to dental care in Cameroon is a public health issue, particularly for children living in rural areas. Given the lack of recent data, the investigation of children's oral health along with their oral hygiene behavior, needs in terms of care, and access to oral hygiene materials were investigated. This cross-sectional pilot study was conducted in Bamendou, Western Region of Cameroon. The study population included 265 children aged 3-18 years who completed a questionnaire about their oral hygiene practices. A clinical examination assessed dental caries, calculus, gingivitis, and oral hygiene. The Chi-squared test was used to identify potential factors influencing caries prevalence rates (significance threshold: < 0.05). Among the 265 children (females: 41.5%, mean age 9.3 years), caries prevalence (ICDAS ≥ 2) was 78.5% and significantly increased with age: 62.2% (3-6 years), 80.9% (7-11 years) and 84.1% (12-18 years, = 0.01). Virtually no children (95.1%) had ever visited a dentist. While only 23.4% of children brushed their teeth at least twice a day, 14% worryingly reported the use of products other than toothpaste (ash, soap, salt, or bicarbonate) and 13.6% no brushing product. The present study revealed a high prevalence of dental caries in this population and inadequate toothbrushing habits, which highlights the need for preventive oral health education and intervention to address these issues.
在喀麦隆，获得牙科护理是一个公共卫生问题，对农村地区的儿童来说尤为如此。由于缺乏最新数据，对儿童的口腔健康及其口腔卫生行为、护理需求以及口腔卫生材料的获取情况进行了调查。这项横断面试点研究在喀麦隆西部地区的巴门杜进行。研究人群包括265名3至18岁的儿童，他们完成了一份关于口腔卫生习惯的问卷。临床检查评估了龋齿、牙石、牙龈炎和口腔卫生情况。采用卡方检验来确定影响龋齿患病率的潜在因素（显著性阈值：<0.05）。在这265名儿童中（女性：41.5%，平均年龄9.3岁），龋齿患病率（国际龋病检测和评估系统[ICDAS]≥2）为78.5%，且随年龄显著增加：3至6岁为62.2%，7至11岁为80.9%，12至18岁为84.1%（P = 0.01）。实际上几乎没有儿童（95.1%）看过牙医。虽然只有23.4%的儿童每天至少刷牙两次，但令人担忧的是，14%的儿童报告使用牙膏以外的产品（灰烬、肥皂、盐或碳酸氢盐）刷牙，13.6%的儿童没有使用刷牙产品。本研究揭示了该人群中龋齿的高患病率和不良的刷牙习惯，这凸显了开展预防性口腔健康教育和干预以解决这些问题的必要性。
