title: Prevalence and factors related to dental caries among pre-school children of Saddar town, Karachi, Pakistan: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Dental caries is highly prevalent and a significant public health problem among children throughout the world. Epidemiological data regarding prevalence of dental caries amongst Pakistani pre-school children is very limited. The objective of this study is to determine the frequency of dental caries among pre-school children of Saddar Town, Karachi, Pakistan and the factors related to caries.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study of 1000 preschool children was conducted in Saddar town, Karachi. Two-stage cluster sampling was used to select the sample. At first stage, eight clusters were selected randomly from total 11 clusters. In second stage, from the eight selected clusters, preschools were identified and children between 3- to 6-years age group were assessed for dental caries.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Caries prevalence was 51% with a mean dmft score being 2.08 (±2.97) of which decayed teeth constituted 1.95. The mean dmft of males was 2.3 (±3.08) and of females was 1.90 (±2.90). The mean dmft of 3, 4, 5 and 6-year olds was 1.65, 2.11, 2.16 and 3.11 respectively. A significant association was found between dental caries and following variables: age group of 4-years (p-value < 0.029, RR = 1.248, 95% Bias corrected CI 0.029-0.437) and 5-years (p-value < 0.009, RR = 1.545, 95% Bias corrected CI 0.047-0.739), presence of dental plaque (p-value < 0.003, RR = 0.744, 95% Bias corrected CI (-0.433)-(-0.169)), poor oral hygiene (p-value < 0.000, RR = 0.661, 95% Bias corrected CI (-0.532)-(-0.284)), as well as consumption of non-sweetened milk (p-value < 0.049, RR = 1.232, 95% Bias corrected CI 0.061-0.367).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Half of the preschoolers had dental caries coupled with a high prevalence of unmet dental treatment needs. Association between caries experience and age of child, consumption of non-sweetened milk, dental plaque and poor oral hygiene had been established.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Dentistry, Dr. Ishrat Ul Ebad Khan Institute of Oral Health Sciences, DUHS, Karachi, Pakistan. narendarz@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Narendar
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dawani
authors.forename: Nighat
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nisar
authors.forename: Nazeer
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Shahbano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Syed
authors.forename: Navara
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tanweer
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008892:Milk / Q000009:adverse effects; D009910:Oral Hygiene / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*