An-Najah Staff

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.