Dental caries level among patients attending dental clinics complex at King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia: A retrospective study

Introduction: Dental caries or tooth decay is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases in adults and children worldwide, as it affects 60–90% of school-aged children and the vast majority of adults, and it is the primary cause of pain and tooth loss in the oral cavity. Aims: This retrospective study aimed to assess the level of dental caries among patients attended the King Faisal University dental clinics complex during the study period. Materials and Methods: This hospital-based study includes all patients who attended from September-December 2021. Secondary data included the level of dental caries experience, calculus level, plaque level using the oral hygiene index, and an assessment of dietary habits and oral health-related behaviors. We used frequencies for the categorical variables while mean (SD ±) for the quantitative variables, t -test with mean differences, and Pearson Correlation with 95% Confidence Intervals and 0.05 P -values as the significance level. Results and Discussion: 255 patients with a mean age of 28.21-year (SD ± 12.9), (42%) of them had generalized plaque, (25.9%) had generalized calculus, and (81.6%) had oral hygiene index scores ranging between 2 to 4. The prevalence of dental caries among the patients was (99.2%) with a DMFT mean of 9.51-teeth (SD ± 5.6). DMFT was significantly associated with the level of calculus as those with generalized calculus had a higher DMFT compared to localized, and was significantly associated with health education received ( P -value 0.005, P = 0.028). Self-care evaluation and weekly dietary practices significantly correlated to dental caries’ level (Pearson Correlation - 0.28 and 0.14, P -values 0.00 and 0.03, respectively). Conclusion: This study reported a high level of dental caries experience, which is in accordance with the level in Saudi Arabia reported by other studies. The study also demonstrated the relation of the level of dental caries with the level of calculus as well as behavioral aspects such as self-care evaluation, weekly diet practices, and dietary habits factors.