Dental health of children and adults in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, in 1986.

The aim of the present study was to assess the dental health situation of a relatively urban population in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa. A total of 312 persons aged 12, 30-39 and 50-59 years, respectively, were examined for dental caries, oral hygiene, periodontal pockets, gingival recession and mobility of the teeth present. The state of their oral hygiene was very poor. Although most persons examined had a relatively high number of teeth present a substantial number of these teeth had carious lesions, many of which were rather deep. Teeth with increased mobility were seen in a number of individuals but it appeared that periodontal breakdown was not the major cause of tooth mortality in the majority of the population. The results suggest that future dental health care strategies should focus on the development of a new type of dental health worker. This health worker should be capable of performing simple extractions, simple restorative treatment and intercepting early ongoing carious lesions using modern biologically-founded principles and appropriate technology.