Dental status of adults in the eastern region of Republika Srpska

Introduction. A significant change in frequency and characteristics of oral diseases in developed countries has been detected recently. The aim of this study was to determine the dental status of teeth in adults in the eastern region of Republika Srpska and to determine possible difference in the prevalence of dental diseases according to the demographic characteristics. Materials and Methods. The study included 182 respondents aged 35-44 years and 185 respondents aged 65-74 years, selected randomly from four municipalities in the eastern region of Republika Srpska. Dental examinations were conducted according to the standards and criteria developed by the World Health Organization. Dental status, determined by DMFT index, was analyzed according to the gender and place of residence (urban/rural). Results. The mean DMFT index was 20.2 in the age group 35-44 years and 28.5 in subjects aged 65-74 years. The dominant component of the index in both studied groups was the number of extracted teeth. For subjects aged 65-74 years from rural areas a significantly higher DMFT index as compared to the residents in urban regions (p<0.05) was reported. Females had fewer caries lesions (p<0.05) and greater number of restored (p<0.01) teeth as compared to male respondents in the age group 35-44 years. On the other hand, in the older population study group, females had lower number of restored teeth (p<0.01), higher number of missing teeth (p<0.01) and higher DMFT index (p<0.2001) as compared to males. Conclusion. The present results indicate that the prevalence of caries in adults in the eastern region of Republika Srpska is very high.