Oral health behavior and prevalence of dental caries among 12-year-old school-children in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania

Aim: To study Oral health behavior and prevalence of dental caries, among 12-year-old pupils in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. Materials and methods: This was a cross-sectional study that involved 310 pupils of 12-year-old (males - 43.5% and females - 56.5%). Oral health related behavior and knowledge on causes and prevention of dental caries were investigated using a structured questionnaire. Caries experience was assessed using WHO methods. Results: Tooth brushing at least once/day was reported by 92.1% of the children and 71.9 % used toothpaste. Children reported to consume sugary snacks/drinks more often at home (64.5%) than in school (35.5%). Most of the pupils (76.1%) had never visited a dentist. Most children (71.9%) indicated sugary snacks as the main cause of dental caries, and for prevention, they recommended avoiding sweets/sugary foods (53.5%), and tooth brushing (40.3%). The mean Decay-Missing-Filled-Teeth (DMFT) was 0.76 ± 1.17 (SD), was significantly higher among girls (0.84) than boys (0.64), (P = 0.02). A total of 58.4% of the participants were caries free. Higher caries experience was related to lower brushing frequency, irregular use of toothpaste and high frequency of sugary snack consumption (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The prevalence of dental caries among 12-year-olds was lower than the WHO global goal, knowledge on the causes and prevention of dental caries were reasonably good, and consumption of sugary food stuffs was done more at home than in schools. Most of the children had never visited a dentist. Keywords: Dental caries, DMFT, tooth brushing, Sugary-food-stuffs, 12-year-old children. Tanzania Dental Journal Vol. 14 (1) 2007: pp. 1-

Factors Contributing To Increase Job Satisfaction Among Employees in Iringa District Council

The study dealt with the factors contributing to increase job satisfaction among employees. The main objective of this study was to examine the factors contributing to increased job satisfaction to the employees in Iringa district. The study area was Iringa District Council in Ifunda and Lumuli wards, the sample was 60 respondents drawn from the wards. The analysis involved descriptive statistics such as tabulation, frequency and percentage and it analyzed by qualitative approach. The findings indicate that job satisfaction is influence by job content, working conditions, quality of supervisor, payment, co-workers, promotion and job security. These factors contribute to increase job satisfaction to the employees within the organizations. Therefore, employers and administrators have to ensure that, all factors mentioned are implemented collectively in the organization in order to satisfy employees in working environment. Further study research was recommended for a large sample should be used to conduct a factor analysis on different dimensions of the variables. Also recommendation is suggested to the management to create favorable working conditions environment for the employees within the organizations