The Prevalence of Dental Caries in Permanent Dentition for 12 -Year- Old School Children in Northern West Bank

The aim of the study, conducted in April 2007, was to determine dental caries prevalence among representative sample of 12-year-old schoolchildren in Northern West-Bank, Palestine with a view of determining DMFT mean and Care Experience Index of the studied population. Dental caries was screened according to the WHO method. Out of the 357 children in the age group, 300 children (84%) had dental caries experience as expressed with DMFT index. Only 16% of children were caries free. Female children had higher mean DMFT score of 3.94 compared with 3.04 for males and 3.45 as a mean DMFT for the overall of the sample. Care experience index for the children was very low as only they had a care experience index of 6.7% fluctuates between 7.5% for males and 5.8% for females. Cost of management, defects in establishing and applying of school oral health programs, and Israeli occupation's obstacles, had been identified as some of the factors militating against their obtaining good oral hygiene. The results of this study recommended to improve the situation of school oral health programs, and to focus on dental health education and preventive measures campaigns; fissure sealant, fluoride application as examples.