title: Prevalence of early childhood caries and enamel defects in four and five-year old Qatari preschool children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Dental caries is the most prevalent chronic disease in early childhood in most communities worldwide. Several studies conducted in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries have documented a high prevalence of early childhood caries (ECC). To date, no studies have been conducted in Qatar to examine the prevalence of ECC and enamel developmental defects in preschool children. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of ECC and enamel defects in preschool children aged four and five years attending kindergartens in Qatar.
  
  
  METHODS
  A descriptive cross-sectional study was performed among 250 children randomly selected from 16 public kindergartens. Caries experience was measured using the World Health Organization caries criteria (dmft) for tooth rather than surface; enamel defects were scored by the modified developmental defects of enamel index. Descriptive statistics and Chi-Square test of relatedness were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A response rate of 63 % was reported. The overall caries prevalence of the study sample was 89.2 %; 15.6 % of the examined children had ECC and 73.6 % had severe ECC. Developmental enamel defects were present in 39 % of children and 27 % had demarcated enamel opacities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The high rate of dental caries and enamel defects recorded in this study for this young age group has strongly emphasized the necessity of community-based preventive programs and professional care that should begin during pregnancy and in early childhood.
authors.affiliation: Primary Health Care Corporation, Qatar, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. aalkhtib@phcc.gov.qa.|Melbourne Dental School, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. aalkhtib@phcc.gov.qa.|Department of General Practice, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. aalkhtib@phcc.gov.qa.|Oral Health CRC, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. aalkhtib@phcc.gov.qa.|Oral Health Division, Primary Health Care Corporation, PO Box 26555, Doha, Qatar. aalkhtib@phcc.gov.qa.
authors.forename: Asmaa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alkhtib
authors.affiliation: Melbourne Dental School, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.|Oral Health CRC, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Aghareed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ghanim
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Meredith
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Temple-Smith
authors.affiliation: Melbourne Dental School, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Louise Brearley
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Messer
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pirotta
authors.affiliation: Melbourne Dental School, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.|Oral Health CRC, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morgan
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003743:Dental Enamel; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011295:Prenatal Care; D015995:Prevalence; D014076:Tooth Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*
keywords: Children; Developmental defects of enamel; ECC; Epidemiology; Primary teeth; Qatar; s-ECC