A sampling survey of permanent crown-root caries in 35-44-year-old population in Guangdong Province (2015-2016)

To investigate the current status of caries on permanent teeth in adult population at the age of 35-44 years old in Guangdong Province, thus to provide scientific basis for the establishment of oral health care policies in Guangdong.

An equal-sized stratified multi-stage randomly sampling design was applied to obtain representative sample groups consisted of 288 Guangdong residents each, aged at 35-44 years old, with a gender ratio of half to half. The caries on the crowns and roots of permanent teeth were assessed according to The Guideline for the 4th National Oral Health Survey; thereafter the prevalence and mean DFT (decayed and filled tooth) of permanent teeth were calculated. The data obtained were analyzed using SAS9.2 package.

In 35-44 year-old population, the prevalence of crown caries was 71.18%, with a mean DFT of 2.76, and a filled rate of 36.78%; while the prevalence of root caries was 28.47%, with a mean DFT of 0.66, and a filled rate of 4.23%. The prevalence of caries of crown and root and mean DFT of crown caries were higher in countryside when compared to the urban opponents. And female had higher prevalence and mean DFT score in crown and root caries when compared to male. However, the mean DFT score of root caries in urban was almost the same as that in countryside.

There was a high level of crown caries in Guangdong. Although the prevalence of root caries is low, most of the involved roots was not filled.