TY - JOUR
AR - JDOA-2020-2-103
TI - Comparison of Caries Experience of Asthmatic and Non-Asthmatic Children in Enugu, Nigeria
AU - Linda Oge, Okoye
AU - David I. , Okoye
AU - Chidimma ,  J. Michael
AU - Osa-eloka , C. Ekwueme
AU - Benneth , T. Amaechi
JO - Journal of Dentistry Open Access
PY - 2020
DA - Fri 21, Aug 2020
SN - 2674-4155
DO - http://dx.doi.org/10.31487/j.JDOA.2020.02.03
UR - https://www.sciencerepository.org/comparison-of-caries-experience-of-asthmatic-and-non-asthmatic_JDOA-2020-2-103 
KW - Asthma, children, dental caries, DMFS
AB - Background: Asthma and dental caries are two most common chronic diseases among children. The aim
of the present study was to determine and compare the dental caries experience between asthmatic and nonasthmatic children in Enugu.
Methods: 120 asthmatic children who had been diagnosed of asthma for at least 1 year were selected and
matched for age 2-17 years with 120 non-asthmatic controls. Prevalence of caries was assessed using the
decayed, missing, and filled surfaces (dfs for deciduous teeth and DMFS for permanent teeth) index through
clinical examination by two calibrated dentists according to WHO guidelines. Information on various
confounding factors were collected through questionnaires and patients’ medical records.
Results: Asthmatic children had significantly higher (P<0.000) caries experience on primary teeth (dfs was
2.02±0.18 for 2-6 years-old and dfs was 2.46±0.68 for 7-12 years-old) and permanent teeth (DMFS was
1.86±1.12 for 7-12 years-old and DMFS is 1.84±1.22 for 13-17 years-old). Asthmatic children did not differ
significantly from their non-asthmatic counterparts with respect to gender, dietary habits, oral hygiene, time
since last dental visit and parents’ education.
Conclusion: Children with asthma have higher caries experience than their non-asthmatic counterparts in
this study. Reasons for this difference are multifactorial necessitating the need for special multidisciplinary
oral health preventive program for these high-caries-risk children.