الفهرس 
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Abstract
Summary
Dental caries continues to be a major problem in dentistry despite the great effort of the researchers towards caries control and prevention. The inverse relation between the fluoride concentration of drinking water and dental caries has been known for decades and fluoridation of drinking water for caries prevention is recommended by health authorities.
This study was carried out to investigate the caries prevalence and to assess the level of fluoride in drinking water among primary school children in two districts of Eastern Libya.
A total of 2000 school children 922 boys (46.1%) and 1078 girls (53.9%), aged from 6-12 years of different socio-economic levels and from two districts of Eastern Libya.
This cross-sectional observational study was conducted in two cities of Eastern Libya. Data were collected between October-November 2012.
Those children were examined for dental caries, which was identified using dmf and def for primary teeth for ages 6-9 years, and DMF for permanent teeth for ages 6-12 years.
Clinical examination was done in the class rooms while the child was sitting on an ordinary chair in the day light. The instruments used for clinical examination were a plane mouth mirror and a dental explorer No 23. Prior to the clinical examination the teeth were cleaned by cotton pellets.
Summary
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The results of this study showed that the dental caries prevalence was considered higher among primary school in Libya. Girls had higher mean (DMF) than boys did (statistically significant).
With respect to gender, the results revealed that girls had significantly higher mean DMF caries experience (0.28) than boys (0.18) but this difference was not significant between def and dmf values.
Fluoride content in water samples was analyzed using (Fluoride Portable Meter/ ISE meter) using direct calibration method, which allow optimum analyses of fluoride concentration in the aqueous solution in the range of part per million (ppm). The result of the water analysis showed that fluoride concentrations in drinking water in two study areas ranged from (1.41 ppm) to (1.51 ppm). The mean of water fluoride level was found higher at district A (1.45 ppm) than district B (1.43 ppm), and there was a statistically significant negative (inverse) correlation between water fluoride level and DMF.