Oral Health and Dental Caries Epidemiology
Summary
Oral health is a fundamental component of overall wellbeing, encompassing the health of teeth, gums and supporting structures. Dental caries remains the world’s most common non-communicable disease, affecting children and adults across all regions and socioeconomic strata. Caries arises from the interplay of microbial biofilms, dietary sugars and host factors, leading to demineralisation of enamel and dentine. Epidemiological surveillance typically employs the DMFT (decayed, missing, filled teeth) and dmft indices to quantify disease burden in permanent and primary dentitions respectively. Early childhood caries (ECC) affects nearly half of preschool children globally, with prevalence varying widely between countries and communities. Socio-economic disadvantage, limited access to preventive care and inadequate oral hygiene compound disease risk. Untreated caries can cause pain, infection, impaired nutrition and reduced quality of life, while also placing a significant cost burden on health systems. Contemporary epidemiology emphasises the need for prevention across the life course, including community-level interventions, targeted school-based programmes and individualised risk assessment.
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Oral Health and Dental Caries Epidemiology publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in oral health and dental caries epidemiology across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Dental caries: A biofilm-mediated, sugar-driven demineralisation of tooth enamel and dentine.
Early childhood caries (ECC): One or more decayed, missing or filled primary teeth in children aged five years or younger.
DMFT/dmft index: A cumulative count of decayed, missing and filled teeth in permanent (DMFT) or primary (dmft) dentition, used to quantify caries burden.
Silver diamine fluoride (SDF): A topical agent that arrests caries and promotes remineralisation through fluoride and antimicrobial action.
Atraumatic restorative treatment (ART): A minimally invasive approach combining hand-excavation of caries with adhesive glass ionomer sealants.
References
- Noninferiority of Silver Diamine Fluoride vs Sealants for Reducing Dental Caries Prevalence and Incidence. JAMA Pediatrics (2024).
- Decoding children dental health risks: a machine learning approach to identifying key influencing factors. Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence (2024).
- The global prevalence of early childhood caries: A systematic review with meta‐analysis using the WHO diagnostic criteria. International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry (2021).
- Early Childhood Caries: Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Prevention. Frontiers in Pediatrics (2017).
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