Dental caries prevalence in 3-8 year old children of army schools in Lahore

This study was carried out to measure the prevalence of dental caries among 3-8 years old children of Army schools in the cantonment area in Lahore. This was a cross sectional study and the data were collected from 7 public primary schools [n=642]. The oral examination was conducted by single calibrated examiner by using examination instruments in natural day light. The findings were charted on WHO oral assessment form. Mean number of decayed, missing or filled teeth [DMFT index], caries distribution among the children were measured. Significant Caries Index [SiC Index], Plaque index and Care Index were used to measure the unequal distribution of the dental caries and oral health care. The study showed that only 39.06% of the students were caries free. The mean DMFT was 2.69, [boys 3.02 and girls 2.37]. F component of DMFT showed only 4.05% had fillings. SiC index was 6.58 which showed high caries distribution, the Care index was 0.06% indicating extremely low utilization of oral health services. A high prevalence of unmet health care need still exists in Lahore as reflected through high D and very low F scores in DMFT index. Furthermore; presence of dental plaque and poor oral hygiene has a significant impact on caries experience in primary school children in Lahore

Eruption time of permanent first molars and incisors among female primary school children of Riyadh

To determine the mean eruption time of permanent first molars, central and lateral incisors and to compare the relationship of mean eruption time with body mass index [BMI] in Saudi female primary school children from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Cross sectional study. The study population comprised of 612 randomly selected primary school children of grade 1 to grade 3. The eruption time of permanent first molars, central and lateral incisors with age, height and weight were recorded. The mean age of children was 89.3 [SD 9.6] months ranging from 71 months to 109 months. The maxillary right first molar had the lowest mean eruption time of 77.4 [SD 3.9] months and the maxillary right lateral incisor was the last tooth to erupt with eruption time of 98.4 [SD 6.5] months. Furthermore, the mandibular incisors erupted significantly earlier than maxillary incisors. By the age of 100 months, 97% of the girls had all their first permanent molars erupted. There was no significant correlation observed between eruption times with BMI of the studied teeth except the maxillary right lateral incisor. However, an inverse relationship may exist between the eruption times and BMI. The Saudi female primary school children showed later eruption time of permanent first molars, central and lateral incisors when compared with the reported results of other national studies

Dental caries and oral hygiene in male dental students of king Saud university college of dentistry, Riyadh

The objective of the present study was to determine caries experience, oral hygiene status and practices in male dental students of King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A total of 211 male undergraduate dental students were examined for dental caries and oral hygiene. The information about oral hygiene practices was obtained through a self-administered questionnaire. The prevalence of caries was 95.3%. Mean decayed, missing and filled [DMFT] score in the dental students was 7.97 [SD 4.64] with decay [D] component of 3.59 [SD 3.88], missing [M] component of 0.67 [SD 1.29] and filled component of 3.71 [SD 3.89]. There was no significant difference [p>0.05] between the mean DMFT scores of the students from various academic levels. Only one-fifth [20.9%] of the students had good oral hygiene. The percentage of students with poor oral hygiene significantly [p<0.05] decreased as the academic level increased. The use of toothbrush significantly [p<0.05] increased through senior academic levels, with a majority cleaning their teeth either once [33.2%] or twice [35.1%] daily. It can be concluded that the caries prevalence and severity among the dental students was very high. Only a small percentage of the students had good oral hygiene