A Comparative Study on the Oral Hygiene and DMF Status among Male and Female 6-Year Old Students in Ahwaz City in Year 2000

Dental caries is an infectious and communicable disease and multiple factors influence its initiation and progression. Establishing health care procedures are effective factors in prevention of dental caries. One of the causes of early caries of first permanent molar is unawareness of parents of the time of its eruption and the importance of this tooth in oral health. The purpose of this study was to compare the level of Decayed, Missed and Filled (DMF) and oral hygiene among male and female 6-year old students in Ahwaz in year 2000. Subjects and For this purposes 264 six-year old male and female students were evaluated via a descriptive study by direct observation and interview. The results were analysed by use of descriptive statistics, frequency and percentage distribution tables. Student t-test was used for statistical comparisons. The overall average of DT was 0.22 (0.25 in girls and 0.2 in boys) which was not significant. Average of DMF was 3.36 (3.40 in girls versus 3.30 in boys). The oral hygiene score index (OHI-S index) was good among 32.5 and 42.4 % of girls and boys respectively (p>0.5). The results of this study showed that dental caries were mainly related to the total amount of DMF. Furthermore the mean percentage of good level of OHI-S index among this population group was 33.3% suggesting that education of oral hygiene for parents is an important parameter in the control of developing dental caries.