## 4 Discussion  
This study assessed the prevalence of dental caries and the health status of periodontal tissues among 200 migrants coming from developing countries and living in Northern Italy. To investigate the presence of dental caries we calculated the Decayed Missing Filled Teeth Index and decayed missing filled index for permanent and primary teeth, respectively. The DMFT/dmft represents the most important index used in epidemiological studies regarding the health status of the population, defining the number of decayed teeth, treated teeth, and the number of teeth missing due to carious lesions. It allows evaluation of the need for oral health interventions and strategies, to prevent dental decay [29; 30]. The Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs was proposed in 1977 by the World Health Organization to measure periodontal disease and evaluate the treatment needs of populations [35; 36; 37]. Data obtained from the analysis reported, in general, a high prevalence of dental caries among the included patients, since more than half of them presented a DMFT/dmft \(\geq\) 4, and only 10.5% had no decayed, filled, or missing teeth. Most of the selected sample was represented by children (age range 3-17 years old). Most of them were born in Italy but had both parents whose nation of birth is considered a middle- or low-income country. In order to compare our data with a control population, we took into consideration the epidemiological study by [PERSON] et al. [38]: this research evaluated the presence of Early Childhood Caries (ECC), by analysing the dmft index, in a paediatric Italian population \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Educational Level** &
\begin{tabular}{c} **DMFT/dmft** \\ **(M)** \\ \end{tabular} & **DMFT/dmft (SD)** & **SS** & **df** & **MS** & **F** & \(p\)**-Value** \\ \hline Secondary School & 5.7 & 3.4 & & & & & \\  High School & 4.8 & 3.7 & 23.57 & 2 & 11.78 & 0.92632 * & 0.397728 * \\ \hline University & 4.7 & 2.8 & & & & & \\ \hline  & CPI (M) & CPI (SD) & SS & df & MS & F & \(p\)-Value \\ \hline Secondary School & 2.1 & 2.4 & & & & & \\  High School & 1.1 & 1.8 & 35.90 & 2 & 17.95 & 4.85511 ** & 0.00874 ** \\ \hline University & 0.8 & 1.5 & & & & & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* Results NOT significant at \(p\) value \(p\) < 0.01.  
\end{table} 
Table 4: DMFT/dmft Index and CPI adjusted for Educational Level: ANOVA Test. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Age Range** & **Population Sample** & **DMFT/dmft (M)** & **DMFT/dmft (SD)** & **CPI (M)** & **CPI (SD)** \\ \hline
3–6 years old & 74 & 6.5 & 4.1 & 0.94 & 1.57 \\
7–12 years old & 98 & 4.6 & 3.01 & 1.45 & 2.20 \\
13–20 years old & 14 & 1.46 & 1.54 & 0.64 & 1.58 \\
21–37 years old & 14 & 3.8 & 2.45 & 3.4 & 2.77 \\ Female & 110 & 4.5 & 3.12 & 1.45 & 2.15 \\ Male & 90 & 5.61 & 4.10 & 1.15 & 1.67 \\ Secondary School & 35 & 5.7 & 3.4 & 2.1 & 2.4 \\ High School & 132 & 4.8 & 3.7 & 1.1 & 1.8 \\ University & 32 & 4.7 & 2.8 & 0.8 & 1.5 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* Significant statistical differences were found in the CPI after adjusting data for the educational level of the included participants (\(p\)-value < 0.01); on the contrary, the results regarding the DMFT/dmft Index were not significant at \(p\)-value < 0.01 (Table 4).  
\end{table} 
Table 3: DMFT/dmft Index and CPI: Mean (M) and Standard Deviation (SD) according to Age, Sex, and Education Level. composed of 76 children and aged up to 6 years. In the same study, the educational level of the parents was collected by using a questionnaire, recording that more than 36% and 22% of mothers and fathers, respectively, had attended college (university). The authors of this article reported that more than half of the selected patients (59.21%) had never experienced caries, and that the majority of the parents used to brush their teeth 3 or more than 3 times a day. The control group for children older than 6 years could be represented by the population sample selected in the study by [PERSON] et al.