engleski

Socioeconomic influence on tobacco use and dental caries experience in different male Croatian populations

The purpose was to evaluate the dental caries experience between different male subpopulations: Croatian army recruits and dental students, and subsequently, smoking habits related to the education level and place of residence. Croatian army recruits (n=248 ; mean age 20.2) and male dental students (n=56 ; mean age 21.5) were evaluated according to DMFT and FST indices, divided according to age and place of residence, and interviewed about their dietary habits and smoking of tobacco. The median value for recruits’ DMFT was 6 and FST index was 25. A statistically significant difference was recorded between DT and FST index (p<0.05) according to dietary role of carbohydrates reflected in caries development. The number of recruits with finished elementary school coming from a rural area who smoke (in total 57.66% of smokers) was significantly larger (p=0.0041). For dental students the median value of DMFT was 5, with statistical significance in comparison with recruits (p=0.03). There was a difference for FST index (median 28) (p<0.0001). Students were mostly non-smokers (71.43%) and had urban residence (p<0.0001). FST index was a more specific indicator between socio-economic heterogenic recruits’ sample (more come from rural residence and a lower level of education), than dental students (more come from urban residence).

dental caries ; prevalence ; tobacco smoking

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