Aim: to assess dental caries prevalence and incidence in relation to some epidemiological factors in preschool children.
Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional, analytical study was conducted on 1255 of preschool children (2-6y old) from Cairo, Delta and Upper Egypt governments. The personal and socio-demographic variables were obtained through a questionnaire. Clinical evaluation of each child was performed using prevalence and dmft indices.
Results: The Upper Egypt children showed the lowest prevalence index (82%) and dmft scores (4.84) than that of Cairo [85% & 4.82] and Delta [83.57% & 5.6] children respectively. The girls showed lower prevalence and dmft indices in all governorates. The prevalence and dmft indices for girls and boys were 82.36% & 4.82 and 84.9% & 5.65, respectively. The prevalence and dmft indices of all Egyptian preschool children were 83.82% and 5.27 respectively. Also it was found that dental caries had significant inverse relations with the increase in parent education level, family income, child satisfaction and teeth brushing practice. While, it had significant direct relations with age, systemic disease affection and frequency of carbohydrates intake.
Conclusion: Egyptian preschool children have a relative high prevalence and dmft indices scores especially in civilized area so they need more efforts and intensive dental health programs to care their oral health.