The Prevalence of Dental Caries in Preschool Children in Zagreb

Krajem godine 1994. u vrtićima je u Zagrebu provedeno istraživanje kojemu je cilj bio utvrditi pojavnost karijesa u djece predškolske dobi. Istraživanjem je obuhvaćeno 117 djevojčica i 117 dječaka, ukupno 234. Rezultati su pokazali da se pojavnost karijesa povećala u usporedbi s istraživanjima provedenim prije pet do deset godina, a izražena KEP- indeksom kreće se od 3,29 do 7,39 prosječno u uzorku 6,19 KEP- -zuba po djetetu. Udio djece bez karijesa već je kod najmlađih ispod 31%, a kod šestogodišnjaka pada na 11%. U zaključku se može reći da je preporuka WHO za 2000. godinu o tek 50% djece bez karijesa u skupini petogodišnjaka za nas još uvijek daleka budućnost.The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of dental caries in children aged 3- to 6-years, living in Zagreb. The study was carried out at the end of 1994, and 117 girls and 117 boys were examined. Results show that the prevalence of dental caries is very high in all age groups. DMF-T-index varies from 3.29 to 7.39 and depends on age and sex. The share of children who are caries-free is almost insignificant (31% 3 years old, 11% 6 years old). The conclusion is that the WHO-recommendation for the year 2000 of 50% caries free children for Croatian children 5 year old is far in the future