Ohoud T. Zainelabdeen, Eman S.Elmasri, Samah M.Awad And Ahmad M.M. Badr .,

ABSTRACT

Objectives: To Determine The Prevalence Of Dental Caries In Pre-term Children Aged 2-5 Years Seeking Treatment Or Follow Up At Cairo University Children�s Hospital �Abo El-rish� At El-Monira, Cairo, Egypt. Design: It Is A Cross Sectional Study. Subjects And Methods: A Total Sample Size Of 300 Children Was Taken (140 Boys And 160 Girls), Assessment Of Oral Hygiene And Dietary Habits Was Aided By A Specially Designed Questionnaire, It Contained Six Open Ended And Eight Closed Ended Questions. Part One Included The Patients� Personal Data, Second Part Was About The History Of The Child�s Feeding, And Third Part Included Some Questions About The Child�s Oral Hygiene. Clinical Examination Of Children Was Performed By The Researcher Using: A Dental Mouth Mirror, Dental Probe And A Piece Of Cotton Or Gauze. All The Surfaces Of The Teeth Were Examined For The Presence Of Dental Caries And Recorded Using The (dmft Score Of Primary Teeth.

Results: The Results Of This Study Showed That The Prevalence Of Dental Caries Was 96.6% Among The Studied Sample With Dmft Sores Ranging From 0.00-16.0 With Mean Dmft Of 4.0. Conclusion: Presence Of A Direct Positive Correlation Between The Pre-term Birth And Dental Caries In Primary Dentition. The Effect Of The Other Cariogenic Factors And Oral Hygiene Measures On The Pre-term Children Teeth Was A Direct Relation In Causing Dental Caries In Pre-term Children.