الفهرس 
contentsOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 135 |  |  |
| | | from | 135 | | |
Abstract
1 It is recognized that detal conditions and dental j needs vary from place to place, even within fairly confi I ned areas. This is due to interactions of multiple here i ditary and enviromental factors including genetic suscep 1 tibility, fluoride exposure, nutrients intake, oral hygi j I ene as well as eating habits. It was thought that the comparison of the prevalence of of dental caries and oral hygiene conditions in .. preschool children in urban and rural communities might give some information regarding the epidemiological factor relevant to dental caries problem. The population’of this study consists of preschool children aged two to six years. The total number of child ren included in the study was 1200. In the rural area ( Abbis 11 village ), 600 rural children were examined only. An equal number of pres?hool children ( 600 child) were selected by the simple r~~dom technique from different nurseries in Alexandria to represent the urban part of the sample. Each child was examined for dental caries and other oral health problems using sickle probe and plane mirror ~der adequate natural light. A special form of examina tion chart was designed for collection of data. Dental examinations were conducted by one examiner, teeth were not cleaned or dried before examination and radiographs were not used. A special torm of a structured question naire providing details of the following informations: child’s age, sex, economic status of the family, manner of feeding, mother and father education, amount of sugar consumption and oral hygiene practices. This study revealed that urban preschool children exhibited a higher total caries experience than rural children, especially when associated with the following factors: illiterate, non-working urban mothers, low income urban families and when the number of children in the urban family was 3 or more. The role of cariogenic foods must be mentioned when considering the possible causes of the high increase of caries experience in the urban preschool children. . This study revealed that periodontal disease were not prevalent in preschool children. Regardless of these variables, the result of this survey indicate the need to develop effective technics to prevent, diagnose, and treat dental caries in preschool children.