Dental Caries and Associated Socio-Demographic Factors in Adult People in Bulgaria

Objective: The study aimed to establish the mean DMFT of adults over the age of 20 years in Bulgaria. We also aimed to determine any association between demographic factors, such as age, gender, general health status etc, and dental caries. Material and Methods: The study was conducted from 2006 to 2009. Data was collected from a randomly chosen representative sample of 1741 adults aged over 20 years, from 13 Bulgarian cities and villages. From these 1741 adults, 105 (6.03%) refused to complete the questionnaire. A total of 1636 (93.97%) were included in the survey, of which 766 (47%) lived in villages and small towns and 870 (53%) in the capital city Sofia and other cities. The average age of the sample was 39.6 years. 894 (54.6%) were male and 742 (45.4%) were female. Each participant completed a questionnaire about demographic and socio-demographic status. Afterwards, a clinical examination was carried out. Chi-square and one-way ANOVA were used to test for statistical significance of qualitative variables (p<0.05). Results: For the whole study sample, mean DMFT was 17.8 (SD 7.98). There was a statistically significant association between DMFT and age. Women had higher DMFT values (18.6 ± 7.66)) than men (15.2 ± 7.91). There was a link between DMFT and general health too. People with excellent general health had DMFT 11.5 (SD 6.39), whereas people with bad general health had DMFT 21.4 (SD 8.16). Conclusion: Mean DMFT score of adults in Bulgaria is 17.76 teeth. There is an association between some demographic factors and DMFT. Women, people with bad general health and older people have higher values of DMFT and need more care from dental health services.