{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,5]],"date-time":"2026-09-05T21:48:20Z","timestamp":1788644900169,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,16]],"date-time":"2023-08-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1692144000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Sourires Sans Fronti\u00e8res"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Children"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Access to dental care in Cameroon is a public health issue, particularly for children living in rural areas. Given the lack of recent data, the investigation of children\u2019s oral health along with their oral hygiene behavior, needs in terms of care, and access to oral hygiene materials were investigated. This cross-sectional pilot study was conducted in Bamendou, Western Region of Cameroon. The study population included 265 children aged 3\u201318 years who completed a questionnaire about their oral hygiene practices. A clinical examination assessed dental caries, calculus, gingivitis, and oral hygiene. The Chi-squared test was used to identify potential factors influencing caries prevalence rates (significance threshold: p &lt; 0.05). Among the 265 children (females: 41.5%, mean age 9.3 years), caries prevalence (ICDAS \u2265 2) was 78.5% and significantly increased with age: 62.2% (3\u20136 years), 80.9% (7\u201311 years) and 84.1% (12\u201318 years, p = 0.01). Virtually no children (95.1%) had ever visited a dentist. While only 23.4% of children brushed their teeth at least twice a day, 14% worryingly reported the use of products other than toothpaste (ash, soap, salt, or bicarbonate) and 13.6% no brushing product. The present study revealed a high prevalence of dental caries in this population and inadequate toothbrushing habits, which highlights the need for preventive oral health education and intervention to address these issues.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/children10081396","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,16]],"date-time":"2023-08-16T09:57:02Z","timestamp":1692179822000},"page":"1396","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Oral Health of Rural Cameroonian Children: A Pilot Study in Bamendou"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Guillaume","family":"Aimond","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Facult\u00e9 d\u2019Odontologie, Universit\u00e9 Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 69008 Lyon, France"},{"name":"P\u00f4le D\u2019Odontologie, Hospices Civils de Lyon, 69007 Lyon, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"B\u00e9atrice","family":"Thivichon-Prince","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Facult\u00e9 d\u2019Odontologie, Universit\u00e9 Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 69008 Lyon, France"},{"name":"P\u00f4le D\u2019Odontologie, Hospices Civils de Lyon, 69007 Lyon, France"},{"name":"Laboratoire de Biologie Tissulaire et Ing\u00e9nierie Th\u00e9rapeutique, Institut de Biologie et Chimie des Prot\u00e9ines, UMR CNRS 5305, 69367 Lyon, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"C\u00e9lia","family":"Bernard-Granger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Facult\u00e9 d\u2019Odontologie, Universit\u00e9 Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 69008 Lyon, France"},{"name":"P\u00f4le D\u2019Odontologie, Hospices Civils de Lyon, 69007 Lyon, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Coline","family":"Gisle","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Facult\u00e9 d\u2019Odontologie, Universit\u00e9 Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 69008 Lyon, France"},{"name":"P\u00f4le D\u2019Odontologie, Hospices Civils de Lyon, 69007 Lyon, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tatiana","family":"Caron","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Facult\u00e9 d\u2019Odontologie, Universit\u00e9 Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 69008 Lyon, France"},{"name":"P\u00f4le D\u2019Odontologie, Hospices Civils de Lyon, 69007 Lyon, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andre Valdese","family":"Jiokeng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Solidarit\u00e9 Sans Fronti\u00e8res, Yaounde P.O. Box 4260, Cameroon"},{"name":"Groupe M\u00e9dical St-Hilaire (GMSH) Bastos, Yaounde P.O. Box 5123, Cameroon"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stefano","family":"Majoli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Independent Researcher, 1212 Lancy, Switzerland"},{"name":"D\u00e9partement de Pr\u00e9vention et Pathologie Buccale, Division de Stomatologie et Chirurgie Orale, Universit\u00e9 de Gen\u00e8ve, 1202 Gen\u00e8ve, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jean-Christophe","family":"Maurin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Facult\u00e9 d\u2019Odontologie, Universit\u00e9 Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 69008 Lyon, France"},{"name":"P\u00f4le D\u2019Odontologie, Hospices Civils de Lyon, 69007 Lyon, France"},{"name":"Laboratoire de Biologie Tissulaire et Ing\u00e9nierie Th\u00e9rapeutique, Institut de Biologie et Chimie des Prot\u00e9ines, UMR CNRS 5305, 69367 Lyon, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5462-6258","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maxime","family":"Ducret","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Facult\u00e9 d\u2019Odontologie, Universit\u00e9 Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 69008 Lyon, France"},{"name":"P\u00f4le D\u2019Odontologie, Hospices Civils de Lyon, 69007 Lyon, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Laurent","family":"Laforest","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Facult\u00e9 d\u2019Odontologie, Universit\u00e9 Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 69008 Lyon, France"},{"name":"Laboratoire des Multimat\u00e9riaux et Interfaces, UMR CNRS 5615, Universit\u00e9 Claude Bernard Lyon, 69622 Villeurbanne, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"World Health Organization, and Regional Office for Africa (2016). 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