Dental Caries Experience among 5 Year Age Children from Two Municipalities Berovo and Pechcevo in the Eastern Region of the Republic of Macedonia

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of dental caries experience among 5 year age children (first grades) in Eastern Region of the Republic of Macedonia. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, primary school children from first grades (N= 228) were selected from 3 Central and 7 Regional Primary Schools. Participant's dental status was evaluated using the 1997 World Health Organization caries diagnostic criteria for Decayed, Missing or Filled Teeth (DMFT) by 2 calibrated examiners. Results: The total number of children in the sample was 228, comprising 114 (50.00%) females and 114 (50.00%) males. The mean dmft was 6.01, with standard deviation (sd) of 3.93 and 95% confidence interval (ci) of 3.42-4.44. The Significant caries (SiC) index was 8.83 for primary dentition. The mean DMFT was 0.075, with standard deviation (SD) of 0.39 and 95% confidence interval (CI) of 0.34-0.44. Significant caries (SiC) index was 0.22 for permanent dentition. The prevalence of caries-free children was 9.09% in primary dentition. The percentage of untreated caries or the ration of dt/dmft was 0.8293 (82.93%). Conclusions: Dental caries experience was seen to be high among primary school children (first grades) in Eastern Region of the Republic of Macedonia. Most of the dental caries from the teeth of primary dentition were left untreated.