RESUMO
The purpose of this study was to determine and compare the prevalence of caries among 6-7 year old Saudi school girls attending the public and Armed Forces schools in Riyadh and to provide baseline data for future Interventions in the development of oral health care. Three public and three Armed Forces schools were randomly selected and 100 children from each type of school were examined. Mean dmft for girls attending public schools was 6.0 [SD +/- 3.7] and was 8.1 [SD +/- 4.1] for Armed Forces schools while caries-free dentitions were 7.1% and 3.0%, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between the means for dmft [P<0.01] and those for caries-free children [P<0.05], among the two types of schools examined. Clearly, there is a real need for oral health promotion and care for the Saudi school girls 6-7 years of age