Oral health status of preschool children attending Head Start in Maryland, 2000.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to determine the oral health status of preschool children attending Head Start Centers in Maryland.


METHODS
Clinical caries examinations were conducted on 482 children between ages 3-5 from 37 Maryland Head Start Centers in 2000. Additionally, 560 questionnaires were completed by their caretakers regarding their child's access to care, potential caries risk factors and history of toothaches.


RESULTS
The overall prevalence of untreated decay was 52%, with a higher prevalence found in rural than urban centers (64% vs 48%). For all children, the mean decayed, filled surfaces (dfs) was 3.64, while the mean decayed surfaces (ds) was 2.90. For those who had caries experience, the dfs was 6.67 and the ds was 5.32. The percentage of children with caries increased by age from 43% for three-year-olds to 62% for four-year-olds. Of those children with caries experience, 17% had complained of a toothache and 9% reportedly cried because of a toothache.


CONCLUSIONS
Of significance in this study were the findings that: caries is highly prevalent in this underserved preschool population; pain due to dental caries is not uncommon; and there is little utilization of dental care despite federally mandated and Head Start and Medicaid requirements.
Vargas
Clemencia M
CM
Department of Pediatric Dentistry, University of Maryland Dental School, Baltimore, USA. cmv001@dental.umaryland.edu
Monajemy
Nooshin
N
Khurana
Pooja
P
Tinanoff
Norman
N
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018479:Early Intervention, Educational; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008396:Maryland / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012423:Rural Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014098:Toothache / Q000453:epidemiology; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data