Caries experience in primary molars and first permanent molars among a group of Egyptian children: cross sectional study

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate the caries experience in primary molars and first permanent molars among a group of Egyptian children.Methodology: The study was carried out on 68 patients with age range from 6-9 years old, at Pediatric Dentistry Department, Faculty of Dentistry, Cairo University. The child teeth were cleaned using sterile gauze, then dental examination was performed on dental unit using disposable diagnostic set, the caries was assessed using deft index for primary teeth and DMFT index for permanent teeth. Also, a bite-wing radiograph was taken for each child in order to diagnose proximal caries.Results: As regards gender, there was no statistically significant difference between genders and caries prevalence (P-value>0.05). Regarding age there was significant difference between different age groups as deft and DMFT scores were higher in older ages. The caries prevalence was higher in primary molars with mean deft of (3.02 1.17), while in permanent molars the mean DMFT was (1.13 1.18). Regarding the relation between caries experience in primary molars and first permanent molars, a positive correlation was found.Conclusions: The data obtained from this study revealed that the presence of caries in primary molars posed a risk for developing caries in the first permanent molars. However, since we could examine only a limited number of children, further clinical studies with larger sample size are needed.