RESUMEN
Investigation of economic and dietary relation to dental caries incidence in 200, 12-14 years old rural and urban school girls s was carried out in Peshawar District during November, 1988-89. The girls belonged to low and lower middle income families. The results have shown that all the subjects under study, both from rural and urban areas, had dental caries [Mean 9.13 +/- 2.35], with various degrees of severity. For girls from the rural area, dental caries indices ranged 5.49 +/- 1.88 - 8.66 +/- 1.87 and for girls from the urban area, the range was 9.89 +/- 1.62 - 13.18 +/- 2.59. The dental caries indices [mean: 11.11 +/- 2.60] in urban school girls was significantly [P < 0.05] higher than the rural school girls [mean: 7.16 +/- 2.10] in each income group which shows that income variable, is not an independent indicator but is accompanied by other factors which influences dental caries incidence and severity. The subjects who consumed milk and milk products, fresh fruits and vegetables regularly, had lower dental caries indices than those who did not. The reverse was found in the subjects who consumed bakery/refined carbohydrates and high sugar content foods. The subjects who consumed bakery products at breakfast and between meals more frequently, had higher dental caries indices than those who took sugar rich foods