Prevalence of dental crowding in the costarican population consulting the dental services of the CCSS, 2017

Abstract

The aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence of dental crowding, determining its behavior and presence of this anomaly through life, also the most affected population group that uses the dentistry services of CCSS. A descriptive study was made from January 1st through April 30, 2017, in different Costa Rican health services, the number of necessary patients was calculated; for the clinical exam a dental survey record chart was used to evaluate oral health conditions, this chart was specifically designed for the needs of this investigation. A sample of 104.691 patients was documented, in which stratified sampling of previously selected age groups was designated as follows: 9.652 children from 0 to 5 years old; 4.270 children under 6 years, 10.477 children from 7 to 9 years old; 9.495 teenagers from 10 to 12 years old; 13.096 teenagers from 13 to 19 years of age; 14.532 women from 20 to 35 years old; 7.586 women from 36 to 45 years old; 13.435 adults from 20 to 45 years of age; 13.504 adults from 46 to 59 years old and 8.644 adults at age 60 or older, and this information proceeded from different regions of the country. The Crowding National Prevalence was estimated at 10% [0.0981 – 0.1018] IC95%, in the group from 0 to 5 years old crowding was lower than 1%, and started increasing quickly up to 17% at 13-19 years of age, after that it lowered down to 3% in the elderly group; crowding decreased in group 13 to 19 years old, possibly because at these ages tooth loss starts increasing due to dental cavities. Tooth loss at ages 13 to 19 had a prevalence of 5% and increased up to 75% in the elderly group. Tooth loss caused by periodontal disease in the age group 13 to 19 had a prevalence of 0.08 and gradually increased to 18% in adults and 39% in the elderly group. Crowding promotes difficulties for eating, speaking, increases oral problems as a consequence of biofilm accumulation, dental cavities, periodontal disease, TMD, as well as affecting the patient’s esthetics lowering self-esteem, for these reasons this type of investigations helps to understand the impact of this pathology over the population, and since it is viewed as a public health issue, it is of special interest in the health program’s decision making process to comprehend such problematic.