Oral Health Status among Elderly Hill Tribe Villagers in Mae Sot, Thailand pot

Asia Journal of Public Health, July-December 2010 Vol.1 No. 2

Asia Journal of Public Health Journal homepage:http://www.ASIAPH.org

Original Articles

Oral Health Status among Elderly Hill Tribe Villagers

in Mae Sot, Thailand

Sroisiri Thaweboon* Boonyanit Thaweboon* Futoshi Nakazawa**

Surachai Dechkunakorn* Theeralaksna Suddhasthira* Mari Fujita**

*Faculty of Dentistry, Mahidol University, 6 Yothi Road, Rajthevee, Bangkok 10400 Thailand.

** School of dentistry, Health Science University of Hokkaido, 1757 Kanazawa, Tobetsu-cho, Ishikari-gun,

Hokkaido 061-0293 Japan.

11

ARTICLE INFO

Article history :

Received July 2010

Received in revised form October 2010

Accepted November 2010

Available online January 2011

Keywords:

Oral health

elderly

hill tribe

Corresponding Author:

Thaweboon S,

Faculty of Dentistry,

Mahidol University,

6 Yothi Road,

Bangkok 10400,Thailand.

Email : [email protected]

Asia J Public Health 2010;1(2):11-15

ABSTRACT

Objective: This study aimed to determine the oral health conditions among

elderly hill tribe villagers living in Mae Sot, Thailand. Materials and methods:

The study was performed in 5 relatively isolated hill tribe villages. A total of 90

elderly villagers aged 54-80 years participated in this study. Dental caries were

measured by the Decayed, Missing and Filled Tooth (DMFT) index according to

criteria recommended by the WHO. Periodontal status was assessed using the

Community Periodontal Index (CPI). Data were analyzed using ANOVA and Chi￾square test. Results: The prevalence of dental caries was 78% with a mean

DMFT-score of 6.53 + 6.32. All hill tribe villagers had periodontal disease with

the mean CPI-score of 2.06 + 0.32. No statistically significant differences in

DMFT- and CPI-scores were found among the villages or between males and

females. Almost all of them (99%) had never accessed dental health care services.

Very few (11%) had toothbrushes. The habit of chewing betel quid (Areca

catechu L.) was found among all individuals. This may cause the deterioration of

oral hygiene and the development of periodontal disease found in the study

participants. Most of the participants had traditional knowledge of medicinal

plants and they preferred using them as first aid remedies to treat illness.

Conclusion: The oral health status of the elderly hill tribe villagers in Mae Sot,

Thailand was quite poor. Periodontal disease was a major oral health problem

though they did not request any dental care. The results from this study could be

used as base-line information for health authorities and dental professionals for

planning strategies for oral health promotion, prevention, and treatment among the

elderly in hill tribe villages.

INTRODUCTION

Mae Sot is a district in Tak province,

northwestern Thailand. It is located at the Thai￾Myanmar border with the Moei River as a natural

boundary. Therefore, Mae Sot is one of the most

important gateways to Myanmar. Many

indigenous people are native to Mae Sot, and

many hill tribes have migrated from southern

China and Tibet to this area. It is estimated that

there may be thousands of hill tribe people

including Karen, Akha, Lahu (Museur), Lisu, and

Yao 1

. They have their own languages, cultures,

ways of dressing and beliefs. Hill tribe people

grow rice, corn and other agricultural products on

mountainsides, living in rural remote areas, and

have limited access to health services.

The oral health status of elderly people has

been gaining more importance in both developing

and developed areas because this population

segment is growing rapidly due to extended life

expectancy. Dental caries and periodontal disease

are the two major diseases found in the oral

cavity. According to Reichart and Gehring 2

, the

prevalence of dental caries in >50-year old hill

tribe people of northern Thailand was quite low

with a mean DMFT (Decayed, Missing and Filled

Tooth) score of 0.2. No information regarding