Modiin is a new and growing town with 25,000 inhabitants. The aim in assessing caries status, treatment needs and trauma was to establish database for planning public dental health service for children.
Material and methods- A randomized, stratified cluster sample of 5 and 12 years old children were examined according to WHO protocol. Tooth trauma was recorded according to the NIDR index
Results-184 5-year old children were examined (101 male and 83 female). The mean dmf(t) for the 5 years old was 1.06 ± 1.96 with 68% caries free. Only 47% of the decayed teeth were treated. Each child at age 5 needs an average of 0.52 treatments. 81% of the children don’t need treatment at all while the others, need 2.85 treatments on average .
129 12-year old children were examined (53 male and 76 female ) the mean DMF(T) was 1.32 ± 1.93. 53% of the children at this age were caries free .74% of decayed teeth were treated. 47% of the children at this age had any sealant. The average treatment need at this age was 0.39 . 84% don’t need any treatment, while the others need 2.5 treatments on average.
Caries rates were higher in religious schools, the difference was statistically significant only in the 5 year old group.
7% had signs of trauma in their anterior teeth, most of them were untreated.
Conclusions: Although caries prevalence is lower than the national average, substantial treatments needs exist and the use of preventive treatment is low. Preventive and treatment community services are indicated.