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Early Childhood Caries And Certain Risk Factors In A Sample Of Children 1-3.5 Years In Tanta

Nahed A A Abu Hamila*

Early childhood caries (ECC) is the most common chronic disease in young children and may develop as soon as the teeth erupt. It affects the quality of life of families having affected children due to dental pain and subsequent tooth loss resulting in difficulty in eating, speaking, sleeping and socializing. It is a significant public health problem and certain segments of society. The purpose of this study was to assess prevalence of dental caries and identify some of risk factors among a sample of 1- 3.5 years old Egyptian children. A sample of 560 children attending for Public Maternal and child health care and vaccination centers have participated in this study. Dental examination was performed by the author using the World Health Organization criteria for diagnosis of caries .Mothers completed a questionnaire on relevant factors as education, employment status, position of child in the family, type of child feeding and oral hygiene practice for both mothers and their children. The ECC was diagnosed in 69.6% of children. The mean dmft ranged from (2.1-7.6). Males were significantly affected more than females. Education level, employment status, oral hygiene practice for the mothers, position of child in the family, type of feeding and oral hygiene practice were dependently associated with the disease. The determinants of dental caries in Egyptian children were generally similar to those reported in other countries. The overall of the study indicated that mothers' education and attitude in maintaining oral hygiene of their children is very important determinant of early childhood caries and supported implementation of health promotion strategies that target new and expectant mothers. Immediate attention should be given to train the mothers with oral hygiene practices. Also, Dental care information and oral hygiene instructions should be given as early as possible to mothers including tooth brushing skills. It is important to continually follow changes in oral health of young children with repeated epidemiological studies to be able to institute necessary preventive measures.