4.4. Relationships between caries and living
environment factors
There were a number of Cambodian children with caries, and
their living environments varied significantly.
The living environments of the caries-affected and cariesfree
children were compared. However, it was found that a
relatively high number of the caries-free children ate snacks
once or twice a day. Regarding the parents' awareness of their
children's oral health, only a few parents in each age group
stated that “they were not interested in the oral health of their
children” or that “the frequency of tooth brushing per day by
their children was zero.” This suggests that increasing parents'
awareness of the oral health of their children and getting
them to encourage their children to brush their teeth on a
regular basis would contribute to caries prevention in
Cambodia.
5. Conclusions
The mean prevalence of caries was higher among children
living in S.R. and P.P. than is seen among children in Japan.
The proportion of treated teeth was low in all age groups,
which suggested that a number of the children had not consulted
dentists.
Many of the children often ate snacks containing sugar,
which are closely associated with caries. It is necessary to
provide children and their parents with dental health education
on the causes of caries.
Therefore, dental health education for parents and
appropriate brushing advice for children would help to reduce
the incidence of caries in Cambodia. It is necessary to establish
systems for the prevention of dental disorders in
Cambodia as promptly as possible.
Conflict of interest
None
Acknowledgment
I would like to express my gratitude to the teachers and students
of five elementary schools (Beth Damgkor, Beth Meas,
Samrong, Wat Svay, and Wat Chak) and three kindergartens
(Angkor, Wat Svay, and Chra Mok Chrouk) in Siem Reap Province
and two kindergartens in PhnomPenh (PhnomDaun Penh
Elementary School and 8 March,Wat Koh) for their cooperation
with the survey. I would also like to thank all of the people who
provided support to the study. The present survey was supported
by MEXT KAKENHI Grant Number 22406033.