Schoolchildren's Oral Health Along the Belt and Road

Abstract

Background: The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) aims to strengthen China's connectivity with the world and, in doing so, improve health and well-being. There is a dearth of information relating to schoolchildren's oral health to inform oral health-related BRI initiatives. The aim of this research was to report on the oral health status of 12-year-old children across BRI countries and determine variations in oral health regarding geographic regions (BRI routes) and country-income levels.

Method: Dental caries experience of 12-year-old children was obtained from the World Health Organization's (WHO) database. BRI countries were classified into BRI routes and country income level. Data were assessed for completeness and contemporariness. Variations in dental caries experiences were examined across BRI routes and with respect to country income levels.

Results: Dental caries experience data were available in the WHO database for most BRI countries (95.7%, 135/141). Most dental caries data were collected pre-2010 (74.1%, 74/135). The mean number of decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) was approximately 2 (weighted mean, 1.7; SD, 1.2). Variations in DMFT existed with respect to BRI routes-WHO regions (P < .001) and World Bank regions (P < .001)-and with respect to country income levels (P < .01).

Conclusions: Dental caries data for 12-year-old schoolchildren are readily available (in the WHO database) for most BRI countries, although the data are not very current. In addition, dental caries experience varies with respect to BRI routes (geographic locations) and country income levels. These findings have implications by way of situation analyses to inform oral health-related BRI initiatives.

Keywords: Belt and Road; DMFT and disparities; Dental caries; Oral health; Schoolchildren.