Although oral disease is a major public health problem, there is littlernepidemiological research in Ethi opia, This study is designed to provide base-linerninformation on the major oral health problems among primary school children in AddisrnAbaba,rnA school-based cross-sectional study to assess the oral health status of primaryrnschool chi ldren aged 12 years and above, was conducted in Addis Ababa, in April 2000, Arntotal of 1736 study subjects were chosen by multi-stage se lection procedll1'es from threerndifferent (private, public and government) types of schools, propOltionate to their size ofrnstudent population,rnThe overall prevalence of dental caries was 21,1 %, with no significant variationrnbetween the different types of schools, In this study, dental caries significantly increasedrnwith increasing age, high consumption of sweets and in those who do not clean their teeth,rnPeriodontal disease affected more than half (53.4%) of the study subjects,rnPeriodontal disease was significantly high in males, in public school children, in thosernwhose consumption of sweets was high, in children having ' enjera' as staple diet and thosernwith poor oral hygiene,rnThe prevalence of malocclusion was 23,7% (22% mild and 1.7% moderate),rnCrowding of teeth was seen in 413 (23,8%) of children, The prevalence of spacing of teethrnwas 18.3%, More analytic studies have to be done to shed light on the determinant facto rsrnof malocclusion, spacing and crowding of teeth, The prevalence of dental fluorosis was lowrn(l ,6%), affecting only 28 children , The knowledge and understanding of oral health and it'srnprevention was high but dental service utili sation was low,rnInitiation and strengthening of health education programmes 111 schools to includerninformation about healthy diet and practice of adequate oral hygiene are recommended,rnOther recommendations are integration of oral health into primary health service and furtherrnstudies to elucidate risk factors and treatment requirements for oral diseases,rnvii