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Prevalence of dental caries in Omani 6-year-old children
M al-Ismaily1, I G Chestnutt, A al-Khussaiby
1Ministry of Health, Muscat, Oman.
Objective:
To determine the prevalence of dental caries in Omani 6-year-old children.
Design:
Clinical caries cross-sectional survey, conducted by 16 trained and calibrated dentists.
Setting:
Omani primary schools in December 1994.
Subjects:
3,114 subjects, randomly selected to achieve an overall 6.6 per cent sample of Omani 6-year-old children.
Outcome Measures:
Caries diagnosis based solely on clinical examination in accordance with criteria of British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry.
Results:
Only 484 subjects (15.5 per cent) were caries-free; regional variations ranging from 4.4 per cent to 31 per cent. Overall, the national dmft averaged 4.61; the majority of caries experienced being in the form of untreated decay, with occlusal surfaces of first primary molars being the most commonly involved site.
Conclusions:
Compared with results from a survey of Omani 12-year-old children in 1993, a much smaller proportion of this 6-year-old sample were caries free, emphasising the need for continuance of existing, and the development of further, preventive programmes.