Caries
Seongeun Mo, DDS (he/him/his)
Resident
Jeonbuk national university
Jeonju, Cholla-bukto, Republic of Korea
Yeonmi Yang, PhD. DDS
Jeonbuk national university
Jeonju, Cholla-bukto, Republic of Korea
Purpose: The aim of this research was to investigate the prevalence of caries among children based on 2018 korea national children’s oral health survey and compare it with the data of Health Insurance Review and Assessments(HIRA).
Methods: This study used Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Oral Health Survey in 2018 and it included data from 9,784 5-year-old and 22,371 12-year-old children. The HIRA database included a stratified sample of approximately 1 million and classified children under the age of 14 into 5-year-old. Gender, age and diagnosis code were included.
Results: Average caries experience rate of 5-year-old children was 68.5% and for 12-year-old children was 56.4%. In HIRA, the proportion of 0-4 aged group who visited the dental clinic due to caries was 28.8%, and that of 5-9 aged group was 53.7% in 2018. The proportion of 0-4 aged group who were actually given caries treatment within health insurance was 23.7%, and that of 5-9 aged group was 60.0%.
Conclusion: The rate of caries treatment in 0-4 aged group was 23.7%, but the HIRA omitted data which is not covered by insurance, so higher rate of caries treatment is expected in clinical practice. In 5-9 aged group, rate of caries diagnosis and treatment were higher than those of other age groups. However, prevalence of caries in the mixed dentition was not investigated in the oral survey. So it is essential to include 8-year-old group in the oral survey in order to investigate the prevalence of caries of mixed dentition.