%0 Journal Article
%T Prevalence of sealants in relation to dental caries on the permanent molars of 12 and 15-year-old Greek adolescents. A national pathfinder survey
%A Constantine J Oulis
%A Elias D Berdouses
%A Eleni Mamai-Homata
%A Argyro Polychronopoulou
%J BMC Public Health
%D 2011
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2458-11-100
%X A stratified cluster sample of 2481 Greek adolescents was selected according to WHO guidelines (1224 twelve and 1,257 fifteen-year-old), living in urban and rural areas in 11 districts within the country. Five calibrated examiners carried out clinical examinations, recording caries experience at the dentine threshold (BASCD criteria) and presence or absence of sealants along with Socio-demographic indicators associated with oral health. Mann Whitney and Pearson's chi-square non parametric tests were utilized for assessing the data. The level of significance was p < 0.05.Sealants utilization varied considerably within the different districts, with 8,3% of the 12 and 8,0% of the 15-year-old adolescents having at least one sealed molar. Sealants reduced DMFS scores by 11% in the 12-year-olds and by 24% in the 15-year-olds, while 15-year-old adolescents from rural areas had a statistically significant (p = 0.002) less chance of having sealants (71%) compared to children from urban areas. Girls had higher chance to receive sealants in both age groups (26% for the 12 and 19% for the 15-year-old) as well as patients that visited the dentist for prevention compared to those visiting the dentist because they thought they needed a restoration or because they were in pain.The finding that sealants reduced DMFS scores despite their very low utilization, along with the high prevalence of dental caries found on the occlusal surfaces of the posterior teeth of Greek adolescents, is calling for a national preventive program with sealants which could eliminate caries to a larger extent.Although the overall caries rates have decreased considerably in most industrialized countries, the percentage of caries in pit and fissures compared to smooth surfaces has increased[1] making pits and fissures to constitute in some countries the most vulnerable sites raising the total DMFT. According to National center for health statistics in USA [2] the prevalence of dental caries increases with age
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/11/100