Thirty years of evolution of oral health behaviours and dental caries in urban and rural areas in Poland
Journal Title: Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine - Year 2014, Vol 21, Issue 3
Abstract
[b]Introduction and objective[/b]. 34 years ago, children living in rural areas had almost 2 more teeth affected by decay than those living in cities. Environmental differences are being reduced along with Poland’s civilization development. The aim of the study is to assess the extent to which the differences in the intensity of caries and oral health behaviours between the urban rural environment have been reduced have been reduced in the past 3 decades. [b]Materials and methods[/b]. The data from 9 national surveys of 14,338 children aged 12 years and 5,425 adults aged 35–44 who lived in the city and in the countryside were analysed. Mean number of decayed (D), missing (M) and filled (F) teeth (DMFT) was determined during the examination, as well as oral health behaviours. [b]Results[/b]. During the past 3 decades, in the statistical 12-year-old Polish child, tooth decay has been reduced from 7.3 to 3.6 teeth, and the environmental difference between the town and village children is now almost 5 times smaller. A similar trend is observed in children’s dental behaviours. Improving the oral health status and levelling of the environmental differences in the population aged 35–44 is much slower than in children. [b]Conclusions[/b]. In the last three decades, the level of tooth decay has been reduced by half, but it is still 3 times higher than in other European countries. Environmental differences have been reduced particularly in children. Both the oral health status and urban/rural environment differences in the intensity of tooth decay may be regarded as one of the many measures of Poland’s social and civilization development. However, the analysed process is not monotonic; instead, it has some turning points.
Authors and Affiliations
Ewelina Gaszynska, Maria Wierzbicka, Michał Marczak, Franciszek Szatko
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP80835
- DOI -
- Views 135
- Downloads 0
Environmental exposure to zinc and copper influences sperm quality in fertile males
[b][/b][b]Introduction.[/b] The presented study was designed to investigate the associations between environmental exposure to zinc and copper and levels of the parameters of oxidative stress and antioxidant defence syst...
Professional communication competences of paramedics – practical and educational perspectives
[b][/b]Introduction: Dissonance between the high ‘technical’ competences of medical professionals, including paramedics or emergency medical technicians (EMT), and the relatively low level of patient satisfaction with ca...
Dietary habits among persons hired on shift work
Introduction. Shift-work determinates irregular nutrition habits. The quality as well as the quantity of meals consumed by shift-workers can significantly affects their health.Objective. The aim of this study was to eval...
Studies and measurements of physical activity of the society
Physical activity, as a very important factor conditioning ontogenesis and state of health, is the key element of a health promoting life style. Physically able individuals manifest a considerably higher motivation for w...
The PONS study and its place in the strategy of health gain in Poland
After 30 years (1960-1990) of adult health decline, since the beginning of the political and economic transformation in the early 1990s.a dramatic reversal of health trends is being observed in Poland, In contrast, in th...