Dental caries prevalence and trends in children - Pathfinder surveys in Hungary over 30 years

Purpose: Whilst improved oral health in children is noted in most Western countries, it coincides with a high prevalance of oral disease in several countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The purpose of this project is to describe the current level of dental caries in Hungarian children between 5–6 and 12 years and to assess the long-term trends in dental caries in the past 30 years. Methods: A representative survey was undertaken in 2017 It was performed in accordance with the WHO Pathfinder methodology, which also was applied in previous national oral health surveys of 1985, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2008, and 2013. Children of 5–6 and 12 years of age were sampled systematically in all surveys over 30 years period. Relevant data were gathered through visual clinical examinations. Results: In 2017, 43,8% of 5–6 year-olds were free of dental caries, meanwhile, the percentage was lower in rural (34,6%) compared with urban (49,9%) settings. In 2017, approximately 3,5 primary teeth were affected by dental caries among children aged 5–6 years. Most of the incidents consisted of untreated caries. Dental caries occurrence was relatively higher for children living in rural areas. At the age of 12, approximately two permanent teeth suffered from dental caries, and the D-component of the caries index was high. In 1985, 12-year-olds had, on average, 5 teeth affected by the dental caries, and after 30 years, in 2017, the level of caries declined to 2,3 DMFT In 1985, 7,5% of children were caries-free, and the figure grew to 44,7% in 2017. The value of SIC index is 8,43 in 5/6 year olds, and 5,23 in 12-year-olds. Conclusions: By the year 2000, whilst accomplishing WHO’s global goals for oral health of 12-year-olds, Hungary has not yet manage to achieve such goals for the 5-6 year-olds group and has not succeeded in achieving much stricter European ones. It was considered unrealistic for the country to achieve WHO’s goal for 12-year-olds by the year 2020. To achieve an improvement of the child’s oral health, strong emphasis should be given to population-directed oral disease prevention, which includes reduction of sugars consumption, improved oral hygiene, and implementation of public health programs for effective use of fluoride and revitalization of school dentistry.