IDAEWOR AIGBE

Dental caries is a common chronic infectious resulting from tooth-adherent cariogenic bacteria, primarily Streptococcus Mutans, which metabolize sugars to produce acid, demineralizing the tooth structure over time. Dental caries is one of the commonest childhood disease. In general, the prevalence of caries in preschool children seems to be on the decline or the trend has reached a plateau in most of the developed countries, but may be increasing in some developed and several developing countries. A considerable proportion of preschoolers thus are still affected by dental caries. A sample size of 100 caregivers of pre-school children of the University of Benin Staff school were used. A stratified questionnaire focusing on the knowledge and attitude to Dental Caries risk factors was filled by all respondents with 51.7% knowing the meaning of Dental Caries and 48.3% not knowing the meaning of Dental Caries An understanding of caries risk factors in preschoolers is essential in controlling the prevalence of dental caries in this age group. This is the main objective of our research.