EVALUATION OF THE QUALITY OF THE LIVES OF CHILDREN FROM LUTSK ACCORDING TO EUROPEAN DENTAL HEALTH INDICATORS

Introduction. In epidemiological studies, CFR (caries, filling, removal) index is used in assessment of grade of dental status of children which not always allows evaluating the caries risk factors, subjective and objective criteria for dental health. Therefore, the use of additional evaluation criteria of dental health of children, in addition to the CFR index, will reveal the possible relation between the factors of risk occurrence of tooth caries, effectiveness of preventive measures and dental health of children. Study purpose – assess dental health and quality of life of children in Lutsk by subjective indicators. Data and methods Oral examinations and anonymous survey of two key age groups of children were conducted, 12 and 15 years, 100 in each group. CFR of permanent teeth, oral hygiene index of Green-Vermillion (OHI-S) and gingival bleeding index were registered during children examination. Modified anonymous questionnaire with questions WHO-2013 contained 5 questions. Data regarding subjective assessment of the dental health of schoolchildren obtained by analyzing the children's responses to the following related subjects: subjective assessment of his or her teeth health, smile restraint through the look of his or her teeth, how often did children visit the dentist and missed lessons due to the toothache. The question had multiple answers. Findings and their discussion Analysis of the results received showed that children of two age groups differently assess their teeth health. 60% of 12-year-old boys indicated that they assess their teeth health as perfect, whereas, the percentage of 15year-old boys is much smaller – 6,67%. With regard to the girls 12 and 15 years of age, the result is almost the same - 10% and 8,7% respectively. Significantly fewer children say that their teeth health is satisfactory, except for 15-year-old boys (D1 indicator). One of the criteria that characterizes the stance of children on the look of their teeth was the question “Are you satisfied with the look of your teeth?” (D3 indicator). The majority of children in the city of Lutsk are “satisfied” with how their teeth look. It should also be noted that there is a significant percentage of children among school students who are “not satisfied” with the look of their teeth (12- year-old boys - 35%, 12-year-old girls - 20% 15 year olds - 33% and 39,1% respectively). It was discovered that the percentage of 15-year-old girls who are “not satisfied” with the look of their teeth is the highest. After analyzing data according to D4 indicator very interesting findings were obtained: a high percentage of boys does not avoid smile through the look of the teeth (92%), the percentage is less as for the girls (78%) However, there is a small percentage of children, who avoid smiling: 20% among girls and 10% among boys. Regarding indicators D5 and D2, it was discovered that the percentage of school student who often experienced toothache for the last 12 months is quite different, and on average, it is 13,1% of girls and 60% of boys. 15-year-old boys indicated that they rarely experienced a toothache for the last year. There is a very high percentage of children who “never within 12 months” complained of toothache. The vast majority of children did not miss classes due to the toothache (on average 86% of boys and 91% of girls). Questioning two key groups of children with the help of European dental health indicators is informative in assessing the quality of dental care and it will contribute to its improvement. European dental health indicators allow with the method of survey to reveal the attitude of school students of different age groups to their dental health and can be used in the health care system for monitoring the effectiveness of prevention of dental diseases.