Prevalence of Dental Caries among Preschool Children in Qazvin, Iran: School Screening Programs

Background: Dental caries is extremely prevalent and one of a significant public health problem among children throughout the world. Data regarding the prevalence of dental caries among Iranian preschool children are very limited. The objective of this research is to determine the frequency of dental caries among preschool children of Qazvin, Iran and the related factors to caries. Subjects and Methods: A census study of 4701 preschool children age 6 years old from Qazvin, and the surrounding area was conducted. Name, age, gender, address, and caries status each subject was recorded. Intra-oral examinations were performed using a mirror and probes X-rays were not taken to diagnose caries. The dental examination was conducted by 14 calibrated examiners accordance with the World Health Organization guidelines. The decayed missed filled teeth (DMFT). Results: Out of 4701 preschool children examined, 2302 were girls (49%) and 2399 (51%) boys. The total caries prevalence in the study population was 68.1% with an overall mean dmft score of 3.167 (±3.003) of which decayed component comprised of 2.67 (±2.78), missing component 0.151 (±0.530), and filled component only 0.342 (±1.05). The mean dmft of males were 3.23 (±3.07) and of females was 3.09 (±2.93). Conclusion: The present study showed that the frequency of caries was found to be a higher than reported is unexpectedly high among the age group investigated in our research. According to the high prevalence obtained in our study, health recommendations on oral hygiene to target population and also parents and teachers should