Oral Health Status of 12- and 15-Year-Old Students in Qatar: Findings From the National Oral Health Survey

Introduction: the national oral health survey-qatar (2011) was carried out to collect the baseline oral health information among youth. this article describes the oral health status of 12 and 15-year-old students in qatar. methods: cross-sectional survey data were analyzed for 12 (n = 1060) and 15 (n = 1064) yearold students. caries status was determined based on decayed, missing, filled teeth (dmft) = 0 (no caries) & dmft ≥1 (caries present). mean indices among nationalities and sex were compared by student’s t test. analysis of variance (anova) was used to compare means by the type of the school. logistic regression was used to examine associations among variables. results: about 53% (n = 565) of 12-year-old and 55% (n = 589) of 15-year-old had varying degrees of caries. the odds of caries were higher among girls vs. boys aged 12 years (or [odds ratio] = 1.3, p = 0.05) and 15-years-old (or = 1.28, p = 0.04). qatari students had a higher mean dmft value (1.3 ± 1.2) compared to non-qataris (0.82 ± 1.1). the public/independent school students had higher mean dmft (1.31 ± 1.2) vs. other two school categories. fifteen-year-old students had lower odds (or = 0.81, p=0.02) of gingival bleeding and higher odds (or = 1.68, p<0.001) of calculus vs. 12-year-old. dental fluorosis was found among 15% of 12-year-old and 16.6% of 15- year-old . the odds of fluorosis were higher (not statistically significant) among 15-years-old (or = 1.1, p = 0.36). lower odds of bleeding teeth (or = 0.81, p = 0.02) and higher odds of calculus were found among 15-year-old (or = 1.68, p<0.001) compared to 12-year-old. conclusion: the results provide directions to further strengthen the oral health strategies through various evidence-based interventions.