Oral Health of Kuwaiti Children Attending Kindergarten

Aim: To evaluate the oral health of Kuwaiti children attending kindergarten. Methods: In 2006 an oral health survey was conducted of children attending kindergarten K1 and K2 in all 6 regions of Kuwait, resulting in 1076 children being examined. Caries in primary teeth (non-cavitated and cavitated) and oral hygiene was recorded by 6 teams of trained examiners and recorders. Other information collected was child's gender, date of birth, grade, if in a treatment program, and if in a prevention program. Data was directly entered in a specially designed form in Epi-Info. Results: The gender distribution was 43.7% male and 56.3% female. Their ages ranged from 4 to 7 years, with a mean age of 5.8±0.6. The mean plaque score was 0.13± 0.1. In the primary dentition, when caries was defined as cavitated lesions 84.6% of the children had caries, 80.5% had untreated decay, 22.8% had restorations, and 16% had missing teeth. The mean deft was 5.5 ± 4.5 and the mean defs was 12.7 ± 14.0. When caries was defined to include non-cavitated lesions 93.9% of the children had caries, with a mean deft of 8.0 ± 5.1 a mean defs of 17.1 ± 14.1 Overall, only 6.1% of the children did not have caries, and only 6.8% of the children were receiving treatment. Caries statistically significantly differed by grade, region, and treatment, but did not differ by gender. Children in the treatment program had statistically significantly (p<0.002) higher deft and defs (7.1 ± 3.9 and 18.9± 12.8 respectively) compared to children not in treatment (5.4 ± 4.5 versus 12.2 ± 13.9). Conclusion: Caries prevalence is high in Kuwaiti kindergarten children. An aggressive prevention program at an early age such as in preschool and kindergarten children is recommended.