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Prevalence of dental caries in Taiwan Aboriginal children — Bunun, Paiwan, Rukai, Ami, and Yami Tribes
Author(s) -
Miyazaki H.,
Takehara T.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
australian dental journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.701
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1834-7819
pISSN - 0045-0421
DOI - 10.1111/j.1834-7819.1988.tb01319.x
Subject(s) - medicine , dentistry , oral hygiene , demography , dental hygiene , sociology
The DMF index and OHI were examined in five Taiwan Aboriginal Tribes, Bunun, Paiwan, Rukai, Ami and Yami. The subjects were 843 children (475 boys and 368 girls) between 10 and 15 years of age. Taiwan Aboriginals used to have very little dental caries, but they now have a high dental caries prevalence. The mean number of DMF teeth was the least in the Yami (1.67–2.83) followed by the Ami (3.95–4.06) and Bunun (3.52–4.60) Tribes. It was fairly high in the Paiwan (4.44–8.00) and Rukai (5.44–8.11) Tribes. Quite high Oral Hygiene Index (OHI) values were observed in these tribes. These findings suggest that the rapid increase in dental caries in Taiwan Aboriginals seen in the late 1970s reflects the changes in the traditional dietary habits in the 1970s.