Oral Health Status of 15-year-old Qatari Students

To determine the oral health status of 15-yearold. Qatari students, 527 (216 males, 311 females) were selected randomly from five regions of Qatar to be examined according to World Health Organization standards using the standardized simplified version of Community Periodontal Index (CPI) to evaluate the severity and prevalence of periodontal diseases. The oral health status was recorded by the simplified oral hygiene index (OHI-S) and teeth status was recorded using index decayed, missing, filled teeth (DMFT). One-third of the students (36.33%) with a mean sextant of (2.18) presented with completely healthy periodontal tissues; the highest prevalence of periodontal status was related to bleeding (39.73%) with a mean sextant of (2.38); the prevalence of calculus was 20.26% (1.21). Dental caries was high, more than 60% of teeth examined were found to be decayed. Male students showed more decay than females (74.15%, 64.8% respectively). More males (33.33%) failed to brush their teeth than females (11.89%). While 41 % of girls brushed their teeth more than once daily only 22.22% of the boys claimed to brush more than once a day. Most students needed motivation and instruction in oral hygiene; one-third required removal of calculus. Deep scaling and complex periodontal treatment was needed for 60% of the teeth examined were decayed only 0.21 sextants per subject. To achieve the WHO goals greater effort must be directed towards the implementation of effective preventive programs in Qatar.