The purpose of the study was to analyze caries experience in primary and permanent dentition in children up to 15 years of age located in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Methods: The research was conducted as a retrospective cross-sectional study. Analyzes and comparisons of caries indices were performed using groups formed according to their gender (male-M and female-F) and age, i.e., the first group-children in early childhood, ≤5 years; the second group, middle childhood 6-8 years; the third group, preadolescents 9-11 years old; fourth group, adolescents 12-15 years old.
Results: Overall prevalence of caries in primary dentition was 89.1%, while in permanent dentition, it was 60.7%. The overall mean decayed, missing, and filled teeth- dmft in male participants was 5.4, while in female participants, it was 5.1. By contrast, a higher overall mean DMFT was established in the female participants (2.7 vs. 3.0).
Conclusions: We can see a high prevalence in all of the examined groups. In primary dentition, males examined during the course of the study had a higher overall mean dmft and the mean number of untreated decayed primary teeth, whereas females up to age 15 examined during the course of the study had more DMF teeth.
Keywords: children; female; male; mean dmft/DMFT; prevalence; significant caries index-SiC index.