Dental caries experience and treatment needs of an adult female population in Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Experience and awareness of adult females concerning dental caries is important in its prevention particularly in children because of their natural role as care givers.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of dental caries and treatment needs in an adult female Nigerian population.

METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, adult females attending outreach programmes were examined for dental caries using the Decayed Missing and Filled Teeth caries index (DMFT). Socio-demographic variables were also recorded and statistical analysis done with SPSS software.

RESULTS: A total of 430 females aged 16 to 59 years participated in the outreach programme out of which 109 (25.3%) had a DMFT score > 0. Mean DMFT was 0.7 ± 1.6. Fifty-five (12.8%) participants had decayed teeth, 78 (18.1 %) had missing teeth and 10(2.3%) had filled teeth. The treatment need was 34.3%, restorative index was 13.3% and significant caries index was 2.0. There were significant differences in caries experience based on age, marital status and educational qualifications of participants p < 0.05.

CONCLUSION: The prevalence of dental caries among the study group was low but the treatment need was high. Younger females, singles and those with lower educational qualifications had a higher dental caries experience.