Perceived and Assessed Dental Treatment Needs of Schoolchildren in Benoe Division, Cameroon

Oral health surveys combining clinical and subjective measures are effective to inform oral health policy, practice, and evaluation of oral health interventions. However, only a few studies have examined the agreement between these measures in developing countries. This study investigates dental treatment needs among Cameroon’s schoolchildren; specifically, we aim to estimate the extent to which perceived and clinical measures are in agreement. Using a multistage sampling technique, we randomly selected 11 schools and their pupils to participate in this study. We conducted an oral clinical examination using a mouth mirror and blunt probe in a classroom to evaluate children’s oral health. In addition, the participants filled out a questionnaire on sociodemographic characteristics, oral health behavior, and perceived treatment needs. To fulfill our aims, we use descriptive statistics and unconditional logistic regression. Out of 700 children invited to participate, 692 completed the study (98.8%). The mean age of the children was 11.45 y (SD = 1.21), and there were slightly more boys (n = 366, 52.9%) than girls (n = 326, 47.1%). The majority of the children (85.2%) felt that their oral health was good, and more than half (53.2%) reported a perceived need for dental treatment. While 68.2% (n = 472) had at least 1 objective treatment need, only 65.8% of them perceived this need, indicating a medium level of sensitivity (65.9%, 95% CI = 61.4% to 70.2%). In addition, we observed a high positive predictive value (84.5%, 95% CI = 80.4% to 88.1%) for perceived treatment need to detect clinically evaluated dental treatment need. Our findings show that perceived treatment has a high positive predicted value to determine clinical treatment need. Subjective assessment of treatment need may be an alternative low-cost option to help policy makers to design oral health interventions for Cameroonian children. This study illustrates the potential of schoolchildren in a low-income country to make a good prediction of their dental treatment needs. The majority of these countries lack the human and material resources to conduct oral health surveys that include clinical assessment of treatment needs. Therefore, stakeholders can rely on data from self-administered oral health surveys to inform policy and delivery of services to schoolchildren in resource-limited settings