DENTAL CARIES INTENSITY IN CHILDREN WITH DISTURBANCES IN TOOTH FORMATION, SURVIVED AFTER THE CHORNOBYL NPP ACCIDENT

Abstract

Objective: Assessment of dental caries intensity in children with disturbances in tooth formation living in radioLog¬ically contaminated territories as a result of the Chornobyl NPP accident. Materials and methods. Children aged 6-14 years old (n = 1470) suffering from disturbances in tooth formation (DTF) with the residents of radiologically contaminated territories (n = 528) among them were enrolled in the study. The DTF subtypes were assayed, namely the systemic enamel hypoplasia (SEH) and molar incisor hypomineralisation (MIH). Personal radiation history was recorded. Intensity of caries and caries of surfaces in the mixed (i.e. transi¬tional) occlusion (df+DMF, dfs+DMFS coefficients) and permanent occlusion (DMF, DMFS coefficients) was identified. Results. Caries intensity in the exposed children suffering DTF with mixed and permanent dental occlusion was sig¬nificantly higher vs. either in children exposed to ionizing radiation with no DTF or in the control group (p < 0.001, p< 0.001 and p< 0.05, p< 0.001 correspondingly). The highest caries intensity of the permanent teeth was revealed in the residents of contaminated territories suffering SEH (6.95 ± 2.3) vs. cases of MIH (5.68 ± 1.97) as a result of nonsymmetrical teeth involvement. Conclusions. The highest values of df+DMF, dfs+DMFS coefficients were diagnosed in children with a mixed dental occlusion aged 6-14 years old living on territories contaminated as a result of the ChNPP accident as compared to the not exposed subjects and control group (7.2 ± 2.07 and 8.98 ± 2.4, p < 0.001). A very high intensity of caries and surface caries of permanent teeth (DMF = 6.79 ± 2.34, DMFS = 8.69 ± 2.75, p < 0.001) was established in chil¬dren exposed to ionizing radiation and suffering DTF. Such a high intensity may be due to the impact of a set of neg¬ative factors including the ionizing radiation in low doses and peculiarities of economic component of social sta¬tus of study subjects, namely the unbalanced diet. In case of permanent occlusion the intensity of caries and caries of tooth of in children survived after the ChNPP accident and suffering SEH was significantly (p< 0.05) higher com¬pared to the persons suffering MIH.