Dental caries trends in 5 to 6 year-old and 11 to 13 year-old children in two UNICEF designated regions: Sub-Saharan Africa, and Middle East and North Africa, 1970-2000.

The purpose of this study was to do a systematic review of published caries epidemiology studies in two UNICEF defined regions, Sub-Sahara Africa, and the Middle-East and North Africa that contain 63 developing countries. On-line searches were made of articles listed in Medline using PubMed to investigate trends in dental caries in 5 to 6 year-old, and 11 to 13-year-old children using defined inclusion criteria. Of 493 listed publications, 70 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The percentage caries rates and mean dmft, as well as mean DMFT scores, were plotted against study year. Non-significant percentage caries prevalence trends were downward in Sub-Saharan Africa for both 5-6 year-olds and 11-13 year-olds while in Middle-East and North Africa caries prevalence remained constant over the 30-year review period in both age groups. Mean dmft scores significantly diminished in 5-6 year-olds during the study period (y = 200-0.1x, P = 0.05) in Sub-Saharan Africa but the scores remained constant in the Middle-East and North Africa. Mean DMFT scores remained constant in 11-13 year-olds in both Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle-East and North Africa. When the mean dmft and DMFT scores per carious mouth were calculated both age groups in Sub-Saharan Africa showed clear reductions, that for 11 to 13 year-olds was statistically significant (y = 170-0.084x, P = 0.014). In the Middle-East and North Africa the trends in the two age groups remained unchanged.