Rapid Situation Assessment of Dental Caries and Its Risk Factors Among High School Students in Erbil City; A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background and objectives: Dental caries are defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the
destruction of the tooth's enamel caused by acids produced after bacteria fermentation the sweetie foods.
Due to the steady maturation of teenage bodies and minds, puberty is a critical period of growth and change.
The purpose of the study is to determine the assessment of dental caries and so its risk factors among high
school students in Erbil.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was selected for high school students from ten different schools from
various parts of Erbil city. The students were enrolled using a randomized clustered sampling technique.
Results: The study population was composed of 650 students, ages ranged from 14 to 20 years, with a
mean ±SD of 16.71±1.5 years; 298 (45.8%) of them were males and 352 (54.2%) were females. with a
male-to-female ratio of 1:1.8. The study found that 72.31% of the study sample has dental caries, while
27.69% were free from dental caries. The caries was more among males 228 (76.5%) than females 242
(58.8%) with a statistically significant difference (P= 0.028).
Conclusions: The study concluded that in Erbil City, a large percentage of high school students have dental
caries. The associated risk factors for caries development were high in the male gender, low parental
education, low family income, low teeth brushing, not using dental floss, and absence of interdental cleaning.