A comparative study of palatal height in a Saudi and Egyptian population.

The present study constitutes an attempt to compare normal traits for palatal height and width at different stages of dentition development of two ethnic groups of the Middle East. The observations were obtained from 346 randomly selected normal subjects, 188 Saudis and 158 Egyptians. The stone models were divided into three categories in both groups--primary, mixed and permanent dentitions. Palatal index values were calculated at two levels. Vernier calipers were used to measure the palatal width. Palatal depth was measured by profile Gauge by Vitrex. The results of this study demonstrate no significant difference between ethnic groups at levels 1 and 2 in relation to the palatal height, width and index. For both groups, palatal index increased significantly from the primary to mixed and permanent dentition at level 1. At level 2, palatal index and height showed decreases in measurement in the mixed dentition compared with the primary and the permanent dentitions. Subjective assessment of the palatal height correlated with palatal index. The casts were then labelled so that the shallow group had the smallest palatal index followed by the normal and the deep group had the largest palatal index. The results contribute to the information available on the development of palatal shape within two Middle Eastern populations. Knowledge of the normal range in shape can act as a baseline for studies of certain oral developmental abnormalities.

Three-rooted permanent mandibular first molars of Asian and black groups in the Middle East.

The occurrence of supplementary roots of the lower first permanent molars is 2.33% for a Saudi group of Asiatic descendants and 0.65% for an Egyptian group of African descendants. The most prominent finding demonstrated in this study is the lower percentage of occurrence of the third root among the Saudi samples compared to other Asiatic samples in other studies. Furthermore, this study confirmed the occurrence of the anomaly in our African samples, and the clinical situation illustrates the importance of early diagnosis to avoid complications for such molars by dental practitioners.

Gingival recession in the mandibular central incisor region of Saudi schoolchildren aged 10-15 years.

Incidence of gingival recession in the mandibular central incisor region was examined in a sample of 1336 male and female Saudi schoolchildren aged from 10-15 yr. Gingival recession was found in 9.88% with no significant difference in the affected teeth by age (p greater than 0.8361). There was a significant difference in the mean clinical crown length between the affected and adjacent teeth (p less than 0.0001). The highest significant association of gingival recession was found with inflammation (p less than 0.0001), anterior crowding (p less than 0.0009) and frenal involvement (p less than 0.0001). The results of this investigation suggest that future studies should be made to evaluate the effect of miswak as a cleansing agent for the gingival tissues among the Saudi population.

Dental caries prevalence in intermediate Saudi schoolchildren in Riyad.

The study was performed in 1378 intermediate Saudi schoolchildren in Riyad, 693 females and 685 males. The results indicate low caries prevalence among Saudi children. This may be due to the type of food eaten, and other factors could be important, e.g. the use of miswak by Saudi children as the traditional practice for brushing teeth. The difference between the DMFT of the total number of Saudi females and males by sex and age were not statistically significant, P greater than 0.7498 and P greater than 0.1808, respectively. The chi-square analysis for treatment needs between females and males indicate that the differences were not statistically significant (chi 2 = 0.254, 1 df, P = 0.6145). The most prominent finding was a high percent (77.65%) of treatment needs for Saudi children. This confirmed the continuous need for planning and delivering dental services.

Periodontal disease prevalence and dental needs among schoolchildren in Saudi Arabia.

The study population consisted of 1174 intermediate Saudi schoolchildren; 601 girls and 573 boys, aged 13, 14 and 15 years. periodontal disease was assessed by the method recommended by WHO and data were computerized by using IBM 3033, SAS package. Boys had significantly higher debris, calculus deposits and intense gingivitis counts than girls by sex and age. But for advanced periodontal involvement, the result shows no significant differences by sex and age. There was a position correlation between debris, calculus and periodontal diseases. There was a highly significant difference between girls and boys. The results of this study suggest the need for an oral health program for the entire community.