School Absenteeism due to Toothache among Secondary School Students Aged 16-18 Years in the Ha'il Region of Saudi Arabia

Are oral health conditions associated with schoolchildren's performance and school attendance in the Kingdom of Bahrain? A life-course perspective

BACKGROUND

The link between oral diseases and school performance and school attendance remains unclear among Middle Eastern children.

AIM

To investigate the relationship of oral conditions with schoolchildren's school performance and attendance using the life-course approach.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study was conducted with 466 schoolchildren aged 7-8 years from Kingdom of Bahrain (KoB) and their parents. Questionnaire data on children's current and at-birth environmental characteristics were completed by their parents. Children's oral health measures, including ICDAS (International Caries Detection and Assessment System), PUFA (pulp, ulcer, fistula, abscess), and DDE (developmental defects of enamel) indices, were the exposure variables. School performance and school attendance data obtained from the school register were the outcome variables. The data were analysed using multivariate ordinal logistic regression.

RESULTS

The odds of excellent school performance were significantly lower for children with untreated dentinal caries (OR = 0.98; 95% CI: 0.96-0.99). Children with caries-treated teeth showed greater odds of excellent school performance (OR = 1.41; 95% CI: 1.15-1.74). Disease Control and PreventionNone of the dental conditions were significantly associated with children's school attendance. A permissive parental style was associated with poor school attendance (OR = 2.63; 95% CI: 1.08-6.42).

CONCLUSION

Dental caries was associated with poor school performance but not with school attendance. Treated caries was associated with good school performance.

What factors contribute to the self-reported oral health status of Arab adolescents? An assessment using a validated Arabic-WHO tool for child oral health (A-OHAT)

BACKGROUND

The current study was performed; to validate the Arabic version of WHO child oral health assessment tool (A-OHAT), to assess the oral health status of Arab school children and finally to identify the important risk factors associated with the poor teeth and gum conditions of school children.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study with two-staged simple random sampling technique was implemented. A-OHAT, a self-assessment tool was subjected to psychometric analyses with the respondents being high school children. The Cronbach's alpha and the Intra class correlation values were computed. Paired t-test was performed to identify the differences between the readings after repeated administration, followed by the analysis for convergent validity. This tested Arabic-WHO Child-OHAT was administered to collect the data. Univariate, bivariate and logistic regression analyses were performed to report on the potential risk factors associated with poor teeth and poor gum conditions of school children.

RESULTS

Psychometric analyses revealed that the Arabic Child Oral Health Assessment Tool (A-OHAT) was reliable and valid. A total of 478 (N) high school children were subjected to the tested tool, of which 66.5% were male and 33.5% were female with a mean age of 16.28 + 1.04 years. 80.3% of school children had poor teeth condition and 36.2% of school children had often experienced toothache. Children had 1.5 times higher odds of having poor teeth condition if they had increased frequency of sweet and candy consumption. It was also seen that increased frequency of sweets and candy consumption by school children had put them at nearly 20% higher risk of having poor gum condition. Finally, children with the habit of using toothbrush had nearly 50% lower chance of having poor gum condition in contrast to the school children who do not use toothbrush.

CONCLUSION

To conclude, the study provides a reliable and valid tool to assess the oral health status of Arab adolescents. Improper oral hygiene habits and diet were identified as the plausible risk factors for poor teeth and gum condition.

Does oral health influence school performance and school attendance? A systematic review and meta-analysis

AIM

To examine the evidence on the influence of oral health status on school performance and school attendance in children and adolescents.

DESIGN

A systematic review was performed in accordance with PRISMA included epidemiological studies that assessed concomitantly oral health measures, participants' school performance and/or school attendance. Electronic search was conducted on MEDLINE, SCOPUS, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and LILACS. Studies published up to May 2018 in any language were eligible. The risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Meta-analysis was used to obtain pooled estimates between oral health measures and school performance and school attendance.

RESULTS

Eighteen studies were included. Of them, fifteen studies were used for the meta-analyses. Most studies were assessed as moderate quality. Children with one or more decayed teeth had higher probability of poor school performance (OR = 1.44 95%CI: 1.24-1.64) and poor school attendance (OR = 1.57 95%CI: 1.08-2.05) than caries-free children. Poor parent's perception of child's oral health increased the odds of worse school performance (OR = 1.51 95%CI: 1.10-1.92) and poor school attendance (OR = 1.35 95%CI: 1.14-1.57).

CONCLUSIONS

Children and adolescents with dental caries and those reporting worse oral health experience poor school performance and poor school attendance.

Patients' Knowledge and Perceived Barriers toward Replacement of Missing Teeth among Respondents of Hail City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

AIM

Teeth maintain the functionality and esthetic of oral cavity, they are also important for psychological and social well-being. This study aims to assess awareness of patients toward replacement of missing teeth. People with unrestored or missing teeth tend to have poor self-esteem and oral health-related quality of life; hence, their knowledge toward restoring and replacing teeth is an important aspect to be measured.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

It was an observational study having a cross-sectional design. Face- and content-validated questionnaire was used as study tool. Nonprobability, convenient sampling technique was employed that yielded information from 183 respondents residing in various areas of Hail city. Data were collected after written informed consent. The study was approved by the University of Hail ethical committee.

RESULTS

Two hundred questionnaires were distributed, out of which 183 were returned. Regarding knowledge of restoring missing teeth, 145 (79.2%) respondents know that function and esthetic can be maintained by replacing missing teeth. Information about the availability of various types of prosthesis was mostly obtained by them through their dentist (70; 48.3%), while books/magazines/Internet was the second source (38; 26.2%) and 37 (25.5%) heard it from someone who has already undergone the replacement of teeth.

CONCLUSION

The present study indicated that a good number of respondents have the knowledge of teeth replacement, and dentists were the most common source of information to the patients in terms of education about different treatment options.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Evaluate and plan treatment options based on patients' expectations and perceptions.