title: Caries prevalence, oral hygiene and orthodontic status of Saudi Bedouin children.
abstract: The objectives of the study were to determine caries prevalence, oral hygiene and orthodontic status of Bedouin children in a desert around Al-Qasseem Region of Saudi Arabia. One hundred and fifty three children were examined for caries, oral hygiene and orthodontic status with mirror and explorer utilizing natural light. These children were divided into two groups for analyses. The primary dentition group consisted of 77 children, 39 (50.6%) male and 38 (49.4%) female with a mean age of 4.0 (+/- 1.4) years. The mixed dentition group consisted of 76 children, 67 (88.2%) male and 9 (11.8%) female with a mean age of 9.7 (+/- 2.9) years. In Primary dentition group, 16 (20.8%) children were caries positive and mean DMFT was 0.91 (+/- 2.42). There was a highly significant relation (p < .001) between oral hygiene and caries. In the mixed dentition group, 15 (19.7%) children were caries positive. The mean DMFT and DMFT scores for these children were 0.72 (+/- 1.96) and 0.74 (+/- 1.48) respectively. There was a significant relation (P > .01) between oral hygiene and caries. One hundred and fifty one (98.6%) children had class I molar relation and 2 (1.4%) children had class II molar relation. Anterior open bite, anterior crossbite and posterior crossbite were found in one case (0.7%) each. The caries experience of these Bedouin children was low both in terms of prevalence and severity. There was a significant relation between oral hygiene and caries. The orthodontic problems were almost nonexistent in the study population.
authors: Dept. of Preventive Dental Sciences, King Saud University, College of Dentistry, P.O. Box 60169, Riyadh 11545, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. ahwyme@ksa.edu.s.a
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Wyne
authors: Y
authors: Y
authors: al-Dlaigan
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Khan
mesh_terms: D018912:Arabs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009910:Oral Hygiene / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology