Socio-demographic and area-related factors associated with the prevalence of caries among preschool children in Greece.

Objective: To assess dental caries experience in 4-6 year old children of the Athens Metropolitan Area attending public kindergartens and investigate the association of area deprivation and immigration status on dmft.

Basic Research Design: A cross-sectional study of a large area-stratified sample of 683 kindergarten children was conducted during the academic years 2009-2011. Dental caries experience and oral hygiene level were assessed using dmft and the Simplified Debris index (DI-s).