Dental caries experience and tobacco use in 19-year-old Croatian army recruits

The aim of this study is to investigate caries prevalence and smoking habit in the population of 19-year-old Croatian male recruits. Dental examination of 505 male recruits was conducted in 2001 in the military centre in Koprivnica. Caries status was described by the FS-T (Filled and Sound Teeth) index and DMFT (Decayed, Missing and Filled Teeth) index. Mean DMFT scores were 7.32 and FST 23.56. There was a significant statistical difference in comparison of smoking habits depending on the reason to visit the dentist (p = 0.001). The subjects who do not smoke tobacco have less decayed teeth (DT index with p < 0.001), and more teeth with fillings and/or sound teeth (FT with p = 0.005 and FST with p = 0.004). There is no statistically significant difference for the DMFT (p = 0.657) and MT (p = 0.703). In conclusion, it showed that FS-T is a more appropriate index for describing variation in the population with higher caries experience. In the population of Croatian recruits, there were an astonishing 58.6% of smokers.