A survey of oral health, Qalyub project, Egypt

Abstract

This report presents the results of an oral health survey of 4324 individuals in three villages near Cairo, Egypt.The results show that the incidence of dental decay (expressed as the number of carious teeth per individual) in this group of Egyptians was lower than that reported for the over-all population of the USA, and that the prevalence of periodontal disease in the group studied was about three times as high as that reported in the USA.There was a statistically significant relationship between the occurrence of asymptomatic enlargement of the parotid glands and the occurrence of angular cheilosis in the same individuals. Other forms of oral disease were observed infrequently.Water samples from the survey area were assayed for fluorides and were shown to contain fluoride levels below that considered to give protection against dental caries.