Abstract
We investigated the association between the DMFT index at 12 years of age and urbanization in 39 developing countries. First, cluster analysis was performed to divide the 39 countries into subgroups based on their patterns of urbanization. These developing countries were then assigned to one of two groups (cluster I and cluster 2). These two clusters were characterized by three factors related to urbanization, namely, the percentage of the population aged between 15〜64 years, the population employed in the service sector, and the urban population. Next, the subgroups were compared with regard to the DMFT index at 12 years of age. The less urbanized countries of cluster 1 had a significantly lower DMFT index than the more highly urbanized countries of cluster 2 (p<0.001). This finding suggests that the prevalence of dental caries is increasing rapidly in the developing countries with higher urbanization such as Korea and South Africa, and therefore, a dental caries preventive program should be developed immediately in these countries.
