Prevalence and Distribution of Dental Caries among Iraqi People

Background: Dental caries is the most prevalent oral disease worldwide. It is still a public health problem, particularly in developing countries. Objectives: The aim of this study was to measure the occurrence of dental caries among patients attending dental school and to investigate the type of dental caries by age, sex, and geographic area. Materials and Methods: After obtaining an appropriate ethical approval, the occurrence and type of dental caries according to G.V. Black classification were recorded among all patients aged 16 years and over during routine dental treatment at the dental hospital, College of Dentistry, University of Babylon, Hillah city, Babil governorate. World Health Organization' criteria were used to diagnose and detect dental caries. Results: The final sample size was 463 individuals distributed as 217 (46.87%) men and 246 (53.13%) women. Overall, 1851 carious lesions were noticed, in which class I (68%) represents the most prevalent type of dental caries in the study sample followed by class II (20%), then class III (6%), and the least prevalent types (3%) were class IV and class V. There was no significant difference regarding the effect of gender on different caries classes (P > 0.05). However, a significant difference was recorded regarding the effect of area of residence on different caries classes (P < 0.05). Conclusions: In this study, high percentage of class I lesions in comparison to other classes of Black's classification was noticed among the examined patients. Women experienced more dental caries than men and the area of residency had a significant impact on caries experience. Keywords: Dental caries, distribution, Iraqi, prevalence