Use of sweet snacks, soft drinks and fruit juices, tooth brushing and first dental visit in high DMFT 4-6 year olds of Riyadh region.

A total of 68 children, 4-6 years old and equally distributed by gender were selected for the study. Information about use of sweet snacks, soft drinks and fruit juices/drinks, tooth brushing/cleaning, and first dental visit of the children was obtained through a self-administered questionnaire completed by the parents of the selected children. Sixty (88.2%) children were given sweetened snacks. Fifty one (75%) children were using canned soft drinks and packed fruit juices. Twenty eight (41.2%) children were not brushing/cleaning their teeth. The mean age of first dental visit among the study children was 63 (S.D 16.9) months. It may be concluded that the lack of dietary discipline and good oral hygiene habits were most probably responsible for caries in these children.