Oral Health and Dental Management

Abstract

Caries Prevalence Among Five-Year-Old Children Examined by the School Dental Service in Israel in 2007

Lena Natapov, Moshe Gordon, Vadim Pikovsky, Daniel Kushnir, Eli Kooby, Goubrail Khoury, Shlomo P Zusman

Aim: To evaluate caries prevalence and treatment needs of Israeli five-year-old children cared for by the School Dental Service by gender, ethnic group, and water fluoridation status. Methods: As part of the School Dental Service programme, pre-school children were examined at kindergartens by calibrated examiners according to World Health Organization Oral Health Survey methods. dmft scores were calculated and statistically tested for correlations with gender, ethnic group and water fluoridation status. Results: Twenty-eight local authorities (14 Jewish and 14 Arab) participated in the survey. Of the 1647 five-year-olds surveyed, 35.3% were caries-free. The mean dmft