In the West African country Sierra Leone a WHO-related research project has been launched, in order to evaluate oral health promoting activities for children and adolescents in an African developing country, and how primary health care workers and oral health personnel can be appropriately involved. The present report contains the main findings of an oral health survey implemented to establish the initial situation analysis. The study included 135 15-year-old secondary school children and 106 35-44-year-old persons. D3MFT of the two age groups was 2.1 and 5.3 respectively, 35% and 15% were caries-free. Only four fillings were found. Nineteen per cent of the 15-year-olds had over half of the affected surfaces in that age group. The CPITN-index showed that none in the study population were completely without periodontal disease, 9% of the students and 53% of the adults had at least one pocket of 6 mm or more. Among the students, 95% brushed their teeth every day, although relatively ineffective. Only 7% used local chewing sticks. Between 20 and 35% had manufactured sweets and/or cakes and biscuits at least twice a day. The prevalence of dental diseases found in the study is relatively high for the African region, calling for an increased emphasis on preventive strategies. However, up to now most of the dental personnel in Sierra Leone has had no traditions of oral health promotion. An action research project is being implemented in order to improve this situation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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