Table 1.
List of the study variables
| Description of the indicator | |
|---|---|
| Socio-demographic variables | |
| Age (years) | (Date of examination- date of birth)/365.25 |
| Sex | Female/Male |
| Region | Islands / North / South |
| Type of school | Public/Private |
| Cultural Ethnic group | Melanesian / Polynesian / New Caledonian / Others |
| Oral diseases (clinical evaluation) | |
| Gingivitis a | |
| No | Gingival index = 0 for both arches |
| Localised | Gingival index > 0 in only one group of teeth |
| Generalised | Gingival index > 0 for one or both arches |
| Dental caries b | |
| No | untreated carious lesion |
| At least one | untreated carious lesion |
| Infectious dental process c | |
| No | infectious dental process |
| At least one | infectious dental process |
| Number of posterior functional units (PFU d) | PFU < 4 |
| 4 ≤ PFU < 6 | |
| PFU ≥ 6 | |
| Severe oro-facial dysmorphologies e | None |
| One or more | |
| Type of breathing | Nasal breathing |
| Oral (or mixed) breathing | |
| Stature weight status (clinical evaluation) | |
| Body mass index BMI | |
| Under-weight | BMI < -2SD |
| Normal-weight | -2SD ≤ BMI ≤ 1SD |
| Over-weight | BMI > 1SD |
| Obesity | BMI > 2SD |
| Waist to height ratio WtHr | |
| Normal | WtHr <0.5 |
| At risk | WtHr ≥0.5 |
| Self-reported oral health and behaviours (questionnaire) | |
| Frequency of tooth brushing | Less than once a day |
| Once or several times a day | |
| Usual drink when thirsty | Water when thirsty |
| Sweet drinks when thirsty | |
| Has already smoked | No, has never smoked |
| Yes, has already smoked | |
| Lunch at school | No, the child has lunch at home |
| Yes, the child has lunch at school | |
| Experience with dental care | No, has never visited a dentist |
| Yes, has already visited a dentist | |
| Dental anxiety (VAS 0 to 10) | No or low anxiety (score ≤ 3) |
| Yes moderate to high anxiety (score > 3) | |
| Experience of recent dental pain | No |
| Yes | |
| Prevention at school | No experience |
| Already experienced | |
| Feel able to eat all kind of foods | No, problems in eating some kind of foods |
| Yes, able to eat all kind of food | |
a Løe and Silness index [19]
b Stage 3 or 4 of Ekstrand classification [18]
c Presence of an abscess, a cellulite, a tooth with pulpal exposure or a fistula
d Number of Pairs of posterior teeth with at least one contact area during chewing [7, 9]
e > 2 years from the normal age of eruption or dental overcrowding >4 mm from the occlusion plane, > 1 mm negative over-jet, > 6 mm positive over-jet, Unilateral or bilateral cross-bite and complete overbite, > 6 mm open overbite [20]