Early Childhood Caries among a Bedouin community residing in the eastern outskirts of Jerusalem.
BACKGROUND
ECC is commonly prevalent among underprivileged populations. The Jahalin Bedouin are a severely deprived, previously nomadic tribe, dwelling on the eastern outskirts of Jerusalem. The aim of this study was to assess ECC prevalence and potentially associated variables.


METHODS
102 children aged 12-36 months were visually examined for caries, mothers' anterior dentition was visually subjectively appraised, demographic and health behavior data were collected by interview.


RESULTS
Among children, 17.6% demonstrated ECC, among mothers, 37.3% revealed "fairly bad" anterior teeth. Among children drinking bottles there was about twice the level of ECC (20.3%) than those breast-fed (13.2%). ECC was found only among children aged more than one year (p < 0.001); more prevalent ECC (55.6%) was found among large (10-13 children) families than among smaller families (1-5 children: 13.5%, 6-9 children: 15.6%) (p = 0.009); ECC was more prevalent among children of less educated mothers (p = 0.037); ECC was more prevalent among mothers with "fairly poor" anterior dentition (p = 0.04). Oral hygiene practices were poor.


CONCLUSIONS
ECC levels in this community were not very high but neither low. This changing population might be on the verge of a wider dental disease "epidemic". Public health efforts clearly need to be invested towards the oral health and general welfare of this community.
Livny
Alon
A
Department of Community Dentistry, Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Dental Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel. alonl@hadassah.org.il
Assali
Rula
R
Sgan-Cohen
Harold D
HD
D018912:Arabs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001903:Bottle Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000209:etiology; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D004032:Diet / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000639:trends; D019422:Dietary Sucrose / Q000009:adverse effects; D005191:Family Characteristics / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D009035:Mothers / Q000193:education; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D011204:Poverty Areas; D015995:Prevalence; D014099:Toothbrushing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D035862:Vulnerable Populations / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
D019422:Dietary Sucrose