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Evaluation of dental status and effectiveness of treatment among children and adolescents in the reference groups aged 6, 12, and 18 years from Skierniewice and its region in 2017-2020.

INTRODUCTION
Dental caries is a transmissible chronic disease of dental hard tissues. To monitor the course of carious process, age reference groups were designated which are subject to regular dental check-ups. The groups include children aged 6, 12, and 18 years as well as adults at the age of 35-44 and 55-64 years.


AIM
The aim of the study was to evaluate the state of dentition and effectiveness of treatment among children and adolescents in the reference groups aged 6, 12, and 18 years from the town of Skierniewice and its region in the years 2017-2020.


MATERIAL AND METHODS
The study included 385 children and adolescents from the reference groups. Dental examination was carried out in the dental office of the Ogrodowa Medical Centre in Skierniewice. Dental caries intensity expressed by the the DMFT index, and its particular components, D, M, and F (D- the mean number of teeth with caries (decayed), M- teeth extracted (missing), and F- filled) as well as the dental caries treatment index DTI (F/(D+F)) were determined according to sex.


RESULTS
Distribution of the DMFT index components was very similar in children aged 6 years and in 18-year-old adolescents. The D component constituted half the DMF index (50.7% in 6-year-olds and 52.4% in 18-year-olds), the M component values were lowest (16.1% and 12.3%, respectively) while the F component accounted for slightly more than 1/3 of the whole value (33.2% and 35.3%, respectively). In 12-year-olds, the D component value was 68.4% of the DMF index, the M component accounted for only a few percent (4.5%) and the F component was 27.1%. The DTI value was 0.40 for 6-year-olds and 18-year-olds and appeared to be significantly higher than in the group of 12-year-olds (0.3).


CONCLUSIONS
There is an urgent need for monitoring the dental status, professional caries prevention, and conservative treatment of teeth in children and adolescents of the Skierniewice region.