December 2007

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the dental caries prevalence, its intraoral distribution and the dental treatment coverage and needs of preschool children in the City of Athens. Methods: Six hundred and eighty four preschool children (27.17 – 77.33 months old) were clinically examined for carious, extracted and restored primary tooth surfaces (dmfs) and primary teeth (dmft). Results: Mean dmfs was 5.36 (0-62). Mean dmft was 3.18 (0-20). The dmfs index was broken down to its components: mean ds was 4.81 (0-54), mean ms was 0,15 (0-16) and mean fs was 0.40 (0-42). Occlusal surfaces accounted for 36.69% of all dmfs, proximal surfaces for 42.40% and buccal and lingual surfaces for 20.91%. Conclusions: Children in the City of Athens day care centres have an average of more than five decayed, missing or restored surfaces in their primary dentition. The disease displayed a polarized distribution in the sample. For the most part, the respective treatment needs have not been addressed. Key words: caries location; caries prevalence; dmfs; GENESIS project; preschoolers