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Comparisons of caries prevalence of children with different daily toothbrushing frequencies
Author(s) -
Leske Gary S.,
Ripa Louis W.,
Barenie James T.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
community dentistry and oral epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.061
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1600-0528
pISSN - 0301-5661
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0528.1976.tb02107.x
Subject(s) - medicine , dentistry , dentifrice , tooth brushing , fluoride , toothbrush , brush , inorganic chemistry , electrical engineering , engineering , chemistry
— Clinical caries examinations, supplemented by bite‐wing radiographs, were conducted on 290 schoolchildren. The children ranged from 12 to 15 years of age and were residents of a fluoride‐deficient community in New York State. The children were divided into two groups based upon their stated daily toothbrushing frequency, namely, those brushing once or less/day and those brushing twice or more/day. Mean DMFS and DMFT scores were recorded for children in both brushing categories. A trend was noted that more frequent brushing was associated with less caries activity. For females and males‐females combined the differences in mean DMFS and DMFT scores between those children brushing two times a day or more were significantly different ( P < .01) from the group brushing once a day or less. The caries scores for males in these two brushing groups were marginally significant ( P < .05). Ninety percent of the children used fluoride‐containing dentifrices. The inverse relationship between brushing frequency and caries activity may be related to the more frequent fluoride contact when the children brush.