The national oral health status of Chinese children and adults

Objectives: To describe the oral health status of Chinese children and adults at national level in relation to economic development of the eastern, middle and western areas of China and to highlight changes in dental caries experience. Methods: Cross-sectional study, oral epidemiological survey based on WHO methodology, clinical examinations. Representative samples of provinces, districts, townships; random sampling including subjects aged 5, 12, 35-44 and 65-74 years. Total of 93,826 participants consisted of the sample in the survey. Results: At age 5, 66.0% were affected by dental caries and mean dmft score was 3.50, which was much lower than that of last national survey conducted 10 years ago. The prevalence of caries experience was found 28.9% in 12-year-olds, 88.1% in35-44-year-olds, and 98.4% in 65-74-year-olds respectively. In 5-year-old children, the prevalence of caries experience was higher in the eastern area than that in the western area of China and it was higher in rural area than that in urban area. For periodontal condition, gingival bleeding and calculus were common in the adult group and the elder group. Severe periodontal conditions, as indicated by periodontal pocket depths over 6mm, were relatively rare. Conclusion: The systematic implementation of preventive oral care and community-oriented health programmes are needed for the continuous promotion of oral health in China.