Vol. 6(1), pp. 1-9, January 2014 DOI: 10.5897/JDOH2013.0101 ISSN 2006-9871 © 2014 Academic Journals http://www.academicjournals.org/JDOH Journal of Dentistry and Oral Hygiene Full Length Research Paper Dental care practices and caries experiences among teenagers in Hhohho sub-region, Swaziland S. L. Mndzebele* and O. N. Makhubela-Nkondo Faculty of Health Care Sciences (School of Public Health), University of Limpopo (MEDUNSA) Campus, P. O. Medunsa, 0204, South Africa. Accepted 4 November, 2013 Increased figures in tooth extractions among the youth population in the Northern Hhohho region of Swaziland prompted the researchers to investigate these development, with the purpose of assessing and describing dental healthcare practices and caries experiences among school going teenagers. The study engaged a randomized-survey design through a self-administered questionnaire. The population sample comprised 562 secondary school-going pupils (13 to 18 years). On self-reported caries experiences, about 43.3% reported to have had one or more decayed-teeth; 21.9% were found to be consuming foods comprising refined-carbohydrates daily; and about 30.3% often go to bed chewing sweets. About 98.8% brush their teeth at least once a day, and about 77.8% knew other unconventional tooth brushing methods. Logistic regression results suggest that pupils who were within 10 km of a dental clinic were 30% less likely to be found with decayed-teeth (e B =0.719; p-value=0.082). Surprisingly, pupils who knew the cause of caries were almost twice likely to be found with decayed- teeth (e B =1.866; p-value=0.003). Those who took soft-drinks for their daily refreshments increased their chances of being found with decayed-teeth by three-folds (e B =3.33; p-value=0.008). Pupils who knew the difference between tooth-decay and gum disease were twice likely to be found with decayed-teeth (e B =1.918; p-value=0.003). It can therefore be concluded that whilst caries affect teenagers uniformly (whether boys/girls); most of the known caries causal factors do not seem to influence the probability of having caries in this region. Key words: Dental caries experiences, oral hygiene, dietary habits, tooth-brushing, teenagers. INTRODUCTION Some personal oral healthcare practices and perceptions that often have a direct influence on caries development such as frequency of tooth-brushing and certain dietary habits continue to occupy a central role in the field of oral health research today. For instance, it is important to understand the role played by even a simple fruit juice in caries development. That is why caries has now been considered to be the major oral health problems through- out the world (Evans et al., 2013; Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, 2005; Marthaler et al., 1996; Petersen, 2003). With gum-diseases on its side, caries has been noted as significant in societies by the World Health Organization (WHO), because almost everybody has experienced one or more of these two conditions at some point in time (WHO, 2001). Caries is related to one’s lifestyle, and behavioural factors under a person’s control are clearly implicated. These factors include poor oral hygiene; poor dietary habits, that is, frequent consump- tion of refined carbohydrates, frequent use of oral medi- cations that contain sugar, and inappropriate methods of feeding infants (Selwitz et al., 2007). There is strong evidence to the effect that certain food- stuff is the main cause of dental caries in most people (Rugg-Gunn and Nunn, 1999; WHO, 2006; Rees, 1992). *Corresponding author. E-mail: samuelmndzebele@embanet.com or Samuel.Mndzebele@ul.ac.za.