Aims: This study aims to determine dental caries prevalence and pattern in preschool children in Mosul City Center, and to evaluate caries according to d 1 -d 3 criteria, which have not been widely adopted for caries diagnosis in the primary dentition. Materials and Methods: Examination was conducted on 762 preschool children aged 4-5 years old selected randomly from 20 kindergartens in Mosul City Center from different socioeconomic and education levels. Caries was recorded in terms of decayed, missing and filled teeth (dmft) index, and the d 1 -d 3 scale. The criteria for caries diagnosis included non-cavitated (d 1 and d 2 ) lesions and cavitated (d 3 ) lesions.Results: Dental caries was recorded to be high (mean dmft for the total sample= 6.82), with only 16.87% of children were caries free. Distribution of caries (dt component) was slightly higher in the upper arch and the left side, with the second molars were recorded to be the most affected and the canines to be the least. The d 1 -d 3 criteria of caries for the total sample clearly showed that d 2 lesions were the most common (47.24%), followed by d 3 and d 1 lesions (33.33% and 19.43% respectively).Conclusions: The high rate of dental caries recorded in this study for this young age has strongly emphasized the necessity of community-based preventive programs and professional care that should begin in the early childhood life. Also, the benefits of d 1 -d 3 diagnostic criteria cannot be neglected.

Aims: To determine the level of oral health knowledge, attitude and behavior among first year university students in Mosul city, to compare this level among different Colleges also between males and females. Then the obtained results were compared with those of other studies carried out on similar age groups in other countries, to see if there was any significant difference between them. Materials and Methods: Nine Colleges were randomly selected from Mosul University, from each College a fifty random sample was selected to complete the questionnaires in the classroom. The questionnaires' language was in Arabic included a number of questions related to oral health knowledge, attitude and behavior. Incomplete questionnaires were neglected. The size of the sample was 425 students, 216 males and 209 females. Statistical analysis included calculation of frequency, percentage of answers, and chi-square test. Results: Most of the students (93.2%) brushed their teeth and the majority of them (54.8%) engaged in once daily brushing, less than half of them (48.7%) using other means of teeth cleansing aids. A large percent of them had no ideas about the causes of dental caries (75.5%), and how to avoid it (76%). Their knowledge was poor regarding the age at which the primary and permanent teeth erupted(23.8%, 22.8%) and completed (18.6%, 27.3%). More than half of the students (54.6%) had gingival bleeding but they didn't know the cause of the bleeding (75.1%) and how to avoid it (75.5%). Most of them like eating sweets (82.1%). Small percent (22.4%) knew what is fluoride and its benefit in reducing dental caries (17.9%). Regarding sex differences, females' answers were in general better than those for males. Conclusion: College students seemed to have appropriate knowledge and behavior on some oral health topics but these were limited on the others. Health education needs to be done at universities for enhancing their knowledge attitude and behaviors.

Aim: To evaluate (PUFA/pufa) index in assessing the prevalence and severity of oral conditions related to untreated caries in a group of primary school pupils in Mosul City. Materials and Methods: Dental examination was conducted on 756 school pupils aged 7-12 years old, divided into 3 groups according to age; 7-8, 9-10, and 11-12 years old. Caries was recorded in terms of decayed, missing and filled teeth for both primary teeth (dmft) and permanent teeth (DMFT). The PUFA/pufa index was also recorded for both dentitions regarding the presence of severely decayed teeth with visible pulpal involvement (P/p), ulceration caused by dislocated tooth fragments (U/u), fistula (F/f) and abscess (A/a). Results: Caries experience in the primary dentition was found to be 6.33, 4.75, 1.00, and 4.43 for the three age groups as well as the total sample, respectively. While for the permanent dentition, it was 0.59, 1.18, 3.67, and 1.58, respectively. The PUFA/pufa index recorded the following values for each age group as well as the total sample for permanent and primary teeth respectively; 0.03/2.35, 0/1.66, 0.42/0.58, and 0.12/1.66. The main component in this index for all age groups, and both dentitions was found to be pulpal involvement. Conclusion: The PUFA index should be seen as a complementary to the current caries assessment index (DMF), with relevant information for epidemiologists and health care planners.

Aims of the study: To evaluate the prevalence of dental caries among children aged 9-10 years in Mosul City Center and to compare between traditional index and significant caries index of these students. Materials and Methods: The study sample was obtained from third and fourth class students from eight randomly selected primary schools in Mosul City Center. Sample size was 363 students, 225 females and 138 males. Students' ages were 9 and 10 years. All primary and permanent teeth were examined for the presence of decay, missing or filling teeth/surfaces. Mean DMFT, DMFS, dmft and dmfs were calculated for the students together and separately for each sex. The mean Significant Caries Index (SiC) was also calculated as the mean DMFT and DMFS of the one third of the students with the highest caries scores. Results: The SiC index was significantly higher in all comparisons with traditional DMF index (p < 0.000). A comparison between the two indices indicated that there is a large children subgroup presented with a high caries rate. Conclusions: The mean DMF values did not accurately reflect the skewed distribution of dental caries leading to incorrect conclusions that the caries rate of the statewide population is under control. It is better to use SiC index instead of the traditional index.

No abstract