Dental caries experience in Ghana among 12-year-old urban and rural schoolchildren.

Children aged 12 years from two geographical regions in Ghana were examined for dental caries according to criteria of the World Health Organization. Urban and rural areas were included, the urban sample comprising 502 children attending both private (fee-paying) schools and government (non-fee-paying) schools and the rural sample 483 children attending government schools. A high proportion (78%) of the children examined were found to be caries free. The mean DMFT (decayed, missing, filled teeth) value for the urban children was 0.7 with 68% caries free, whilst that of rural children was 0.2 with 88% caries free, a statistically significant difference. Most of the caries recorded involved the occlusal surfaces of the first permanent molars, mandibular teeth being the most frequently affected. There were no missing of filled teeth among rural children. The results indicate that, compared with earlier studies in Ghana, dental caries is not increasing in this age group. The DMFT values reported here are the lowest recorded since 1968.