Dental caries experience of 7 to 12-year old West Malaysian aborigines (Temuan tribe)

A preliminary survey on sixty-nine 7 to 12 year old Temuan tribe school children living some 30 kilometers from Kuala Lumpur was conducted. The examinations were carried out using a chair-table set up with natural daylight as the source of light. The DMF index of klein, Palmer and Knutson was used to assess the dental caries status. In spite of low fluoride content in their water supply, the findings revealed a generally low prevalence of caries experience (DMFT 1.26). The highest DMFT was in the 11 year olds. The relationship between these findings and their possible causes are discussed.