Аңдатпа
The aim of the research. To study self-perceived dental health of adolescents and to determine its association with socio-demographic factors and objective data on the condition of teeth. Moreover, we assessed the prognostic value of models based on the studied indicators as tools for caries prognosis in 15-years old teenagers. Material and methods. A total of 1143 15-years old adolescents from 7 urban and 5 rural settings took part in a cross-sectional study. Questionnaire surveying and objective assessment of dental health was performed using the standardised and validated WHO methodology. The decayed (D), missing (M) and filled (F) teeth (T) counts were combined in the DMFT index and presented with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Bivariate analysis of categorical variables was performed using the chi-squared test. Numeric variables were compared using the Kruskal-Wallis test. The association between socio demographic factors and self-perceived dental health independently from caries experience was evaluated using multivariate ordinal regression. The prediction of caries based on the studied factors was performed using logistic regression models. Results. Only 14.4% of the adolescents characterised their dental health as excellent or very good while 10.7% reported having bad or very bad teeth. The mean DMFT index in the abovementioned groups varied between 2.9 (95% CI: 2.5-3.3) and 6.5 (95% CI: 5.8-7.3). Significant linear trends between selfperceived health and objectively measured caries experience was observed (p < 0.001) and explained by the difference in the number of decayed teeth (p < 0.001). The place of residence and parents’ education were significantly associated with self-perceived health both in bivariate analysis and after adjustment for caries experience. In the multivariate logistic model, self-perceived dental health was the most significant factor in prognostic models contributing with 7.8% out of 8.5% of the total variance. Conclusion. Self-perceived dental health in adolescents is significantly associated with objectively assessed caries experience. Social factors are significantly associated with self-perception of dental health even after adjustment for objective data. However, the coefficients of determination of the prognostic models are too small, which precludes their application for prognosis of caries development based on self-reported data in the studied population.