Background:One of the World Health Organisation (WHO) global health goals stated that the global average for dental caries should not have been more than 3 DMFT at 12 years of age by the year 2000. However, the prevalence of dental caries, gingivitis and dental treatment needs among 12-year-old children in many regions of the developing world had then hardly been investigated. Objective: To determine the prevalence of dental caries and gingivitis and the dental treatment needs among 12-year-old children in Kitale Municipality in North-Western Kenya. Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study. Setting: Primary schools in Kitale Municipality. Subjects: Two hundred and ninety two children aged 12 years were randomly selected from eight schools that were also randomly selected. Data were collected according to the WHO Oral Health Survey Methods. The children were examined for decayed (D), missing due to decay (M) and filled teeth and the caries experience using the DMFT index was computed. Gingivitis and treatment needs were assessed using the CPITN index. Results: The overall prevalence of dental caries was 50.3% while its prevalence when only the permanent teeth were considered was 44.5% with a mean DMFT of 0.92 +/-50 1.36. Girls had a significantly higher caries experience (DMFT) than boys (p< 0.05). The main treatment need indicated for decayed teeth was one surface restoration with 46.9% of all the children requiring this kind of treatment. Endodontics was indicated in 7.5% of the children while extractions were the least required treatment with 5.1% of the children examined requiring this treatment. The prevalence of gingivitis was 77.7%. Out of these 38.7% of the children required professional dental care entailing scaling and oral prophylaxis. Conclusion: The prevalence of dental caries and gingivitis was high hence there was greater need for one surface restoration and full mouth scaling for these children. School based oral health programme to improve oral hygiene of these children is recommended.

Aim: To determine the prevalence of dental caries and its impact on QoL among HIV-infected children in Kenya. Study design: Cross-sectional survey of HIV-positive children aged 3-15 years. Method: Two hundred and twenty participants were selected by consecutive sampling. Dental examination was undertaken to determine the presence of dental caries among the children using the dmft/DMFT indices. The children's perceived QoL in the domains of oral symptoms, functional limitations, emotional and social wellbeing was assessed using the WHO Simplified Oral Health Questionnaires for children. Results: The overall prevalence of dental caries was 65% whence the prevalence in the deciduous dentition was 50% while that of the permanent dentition was 30.9%. The mean dmft and DMFT scores were 1.75 and 1.08 respectively. Children with high dmft manifested negative impacts on appearance, chewing, biting hard foods and missing school on account of toothache and discomfort, while in the permanent dentition children with high DMFT had a negative impact on biting hard foods. Conclusion: A high caries experience had significant negative impacts on the children's QoL, especially in the primary dentition.

Summary. Four hundred and forty‐six children attending nursery schools in Nairobi were examined for caries and gingivitis. Assessment of social class was based on the occupation of the head of the child's household. Amongst 3‐year‐old children, 62% were caries‐free and the mean dmft was 1.35. Amongst 5‐year‐olds 50% were caries‐free and the mean dmft was 1.88. Thirty‐seven per cent of the children had evidence of gingivitis, with the proportion changing little with age. There was no evidence of either caries or gingivitis being significantly related to social class, although children in the higher classes had more filled teeth. Résumé. Quatre cet quarante six enfants tréquentant des écoles maternelles à Nairobi ont eu leurs dents examinées en ce qui concerne les caries dentaires et les gingivites. Les classes sociales ont été déterminées par la profession du chef de famille. Les enfants âgés de trois ans étaient sans caries à 62% et l'indice CAO moyen élail de 1,35. Les enfants âgés de cinq ans étalent sans caries à 50% et l'indice CAO moyen de 1,88. Les enfants souffraient de gingivites pour 37% et cette proportion changeait peu avec l'âge. Le nombre de caries et les gingivites ne semblaient pas en relation avec la classe sociale mais les enfants des classes sociales les plus élevées avaient plus de dents obturées. Zusammenfassung. 446 Vorschulkinder wurden in Nairobi auf Karies und Gingivitis untersucht. Dabei wurde gestützt auf die Angaben zum Beruf des Haushaltsoberhaupts der soziale Hintergrund der Kinder registriert. Unter den 3jährigen Kindern waren 62% kariesfrei. Der DMFT‐Mittelwert betrug 1,35. Unter den 5jährigen Kindern waren 50% kariesfrei und der DMFT‐Mittelwert betrug 1,88. 37% der Kinder wiesen Anzeichen von Gingivitis auf, wobei sich dieses Verhältnis im bezug auf das Alter kaum änderte. Es bestanden keine Anzeichen dafür, daß das Vorkommen von Karies oder Gingivitis signifikant im Verhältnis zu einem bestimmten sozialen Hintergrund stand, obwohl die Kinder höherer sozialer Schichten mehr gefüllte Zähne aufwiesen. Resumen. La prevalencia de caries y gingivitis fue determinada en 446 niños que asistían a escuelas pre‐primarias de Nairobi. La determinación de la clase social se hizo basada en la ocupación del responsable de la familia en el hogar del niño. En los niños de 3 años de edad, 62% no tuvo caries y la media cpod fue de 1.35. En los niños de 5 anõs de edad, 50% no tuvo caries y la media cpod fue de 1.88. De los niños, 37% tuvo evidencia de gingivitis con muy pocos cambios en la proporción debido a la edad. No hubo evidencia de caries o gingivitis significativamente relacionada con la clase social aún cuando los niños en la clase social alta tenian más dientes restaurados.

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Objective: To determine the internal root morphology of the maxillary first premolar in Kenyans of African descent. Design: In vitro descriptive cross-sectional study. Setting: School of Dental Sciences, University of Nairobi. Subjects: One hundred and fifty five extracted maxillary first premolars obtained from patients aged between 13-30 years attending dental clinics within Nairobi. Results: There were 77 premolars from males and 78 from females. Majority (87.1%) of the teeth had two canals. Males presented with three canals more commonly than females. This difference was statistically significant. According to Vertucci's classification, male specimens demonstrated five of the canals types while female specimens demonstrated all the eight canal types. These differences were not statistically significant. Conclusions: Kenyan maxillary first premolar was mostly found to have two canals. There were eight canal types, with type IV being the commonest.