Dental caries' experience, prevalence and severity in Mexican adolescents and young adults.

OBJECTIVE Determining dental caries' experience, prevalence and severity in students applying for degree courses at San Luis Potosi University (UASLP). MATERIAL AND METHODS A cross-sectional study was carried out involving adolescents and young adults (16 to 25 years old) applying for undergraduate courses at UASLP (approximately 10 %, n=1 027). Two standardized examiners undertook dental examinations; DMFT index, prevalence (DMFT>0), severity (DMFT>3 and DMFT>6) and significant caries index (SiC) were calculated. STATA 9.0 non-parametric tests were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS Mean age was 18.20+/-1.65; 48.0% were female. The DMFT index was 4.04+/-3.90 and caries prevalence was 74.4%. Regarding caries' severity, 48.8% had MDFT>3 and 24% DMFT>6. The SiC index was 8.64. Females had higher caries experience than males (4.32+/-4.01 cf 3.78+/-3.78; p<0.05), but similar prevalence and severity (p>0.05). Age was associated with both experience (p<0.001) and prevalence (p<0.01) and to differing degrees of caries' severity (p<0,001). The "filled teeth" component had the highest DMFT index percentage (63.6%) and "missing teeth" the lowest (11.4%). CONCLUSIONS High dental caries' experience, prevalence and severity were observed in this sample of adolescents and young adults. Restorative experience was high (59.5%) compared to studies carried out in other parts of Mexico and Latin-America.