The purposes of this dissertation were to compare the creative thinking of kindergarten students from three different child rearing backgrounds who participated in two curriculum approaches. Another purpose was to identify suggestions for promoting and developing creative thinking in children. The three child rearing styles examined were: democratic, autocratic and overprotective. The two curriculum approaches were: Readiness Activities Oriented Curriculum and the Academic Oriented Curriculum. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking Figural Form A was translated and adapted to suit Thai students (Rungsinan, 1978). The Torrance Tests yielded three measures: fluency, originality and elaboration. The Kindergarten Curriculum Evaluation Form developed by the researcher was used to identify fourteen kindergarten schools that participated in the study. The Questionnaire Concerning Child Rearing Practices was adapted from the questionnaire developed by Thumnut (1979) and revised by Kiattikul (1988). A total of three hundred and seventeen children participated in the study. The data were analyzed using analysis of variance procedures. The following findings emerged from the study: (1) There were no significant differences in fluency, originality and elaboration scores among students from different child rearing backgrounds. (2) The students in the readiness kindergarten programs scored significantly higher on fluency, originality and elaboration than students in the academic kindergartens. (3) The measure of elaboration emerged as a variable which was highly significant and may be of practical significance. In promoting and developing creative thinking in kindergarten students, the researcher suggests the use of brainstorming, webbing and pretending as techniques to help students produce new ideas and form relationships between concepts, to encourage their imagination and to involve students with minimal amounts of direction, exposition and instruction.

Early childhood caries (ECC) is a rampant, infectious dental disease that affects children up to age six, with effects lasting well into their adulthood. ECC predicts high rates of morbidity in adulthood, is one of the most frequently found childhood illnesses, and is theoretically preventable. Lesion formation follows a particular pattern based in part on the pattern of primary tooth eruption, and is similar to caries formation at any age, with the balance of demineralization and remineralization. Commonly observed effects of ECC include failure to thrive due to pain and discomfort with eating, decreased attentiveness and socialization, and increased number of missed school days. The lesions associated with ECC are often very painful and frequently remain untreated in high-risk populations. Unfortunately, children’s oral health needs are often overlooked in research and public health practices, leaving many untreated and suffering. Risk indicators for ECC include socioeconomic status and race or ethnicity. One of the most critical risk factors for the disease is dietary quality, which has been studied to some extent in attempts to discern the epidemiology of ECC, and which has been shown to have causative effects on the disease process. What has not been studied, however, is how these risk indicators and risk factors interrelate to contribute to the high prevalence of ECC in the United States. Without studying the effect that an overlap in associated risks for these problems has, it is not possible to create a truly comprehensive public health prevention program that will efficaciously decrease the incidence of early childhood caries. Multiple studies have shown the effects of poor diet quality on the development of ECC. When studying nutritional intake alone, ECC is far more common in groups consuming a less healthful diet. Not only does dietary intake affect the formation of caries, caries experience also affects the ability to consume a nutritious diet. Socioeconomic status has also been cited as a crucial determinant of risk for developing ECC. Those children living at or below the Federal Poverty Line are at high risk for disease, regardless of their race or ethnicity. This is hypothesized to relate to nutrition, as healthier diets are frequently found to be more costly than cariogenic diets, which rely heavily on refined and processed grain products. Nutrition is the single risk factor that bridges the risk indicators of socioeconomic status and race or ethnicity. For this reason, improving dietary quality and nutritional status may prove to be the most effective method of decreasing the prevalence of ECC in the United States. Future studies should focus on effective methods to educate the population to alter the quality of the American diet as a whole. By doing so, the prevalence of this disease can be reduced, and more children can have successful, happier, and healthier childhood years. Creating better oral health in children will decrease morbidity for both oral and systemic disease in adulthood, ultimately improving the overall health of the population of the United States.

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