Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of ECC in Laudium, Pretoria, and to determine the social, behavioural, and dietary factors associated with ECC in this community.
Method: Consent forms and questionnaires were sent to the parents of all children between the ages of three and five attending pre-schools in Laudium. Data was recorded on a form using the WHO criteria as described in Oral Health Surveys (1997). Data was subjected to Chi-square and t-tests at a level of significance of p<0.05.
Results: Of the 148 children examined, 50.67% were free of caries experience. The mean dmft for this cohort was 2.12. This was made up of dt = 1.46, mt = 0.39 and ft = 0.27. The caries index components did not differ significantly between genders. When considering socio-economic status, the differences for the missing and filled components were statistically significant with p values of 0.025 and 0.033 respectively.
Conclusion: From the results of this study it is evident that preventive programmes must be tailored to improve oral health in pre-school children, with the emphasis on the lower socio-economic group in this community.