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Intra‐oral distribution and impact of caries experience among South Australian school children
Author(s) -
Slade Gary D.,
Spencer A. John,
Davies Michael J.,
Burrow David
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
australian dental journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.701
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1834-7819
pISSN - 0045-0421
DOI - 10.1111/j.1834-7819.1996.tb03144.x
Subject(s) - distribution (mathematics) , dentistry , medicine , oral health , environmental health , mathematics , mathematical analysis
A bstract — This report describes the intra‐oral distribution of caries and frequency of reported toothache using data from 9690 South Australian children aged 5–15 years. School dental therapists and dentists recorded dmfs and DMFS data and a questionnaire to parents sought information about toothache and its impact. There were higher levels of cartes experience in deciduous teeth (mean 6‐year‐old dmfs=2.61) compared with permanent teeth (mean 12‐year‐old DMFS=1.15). In the deciduous dentition: between 11.4 per cent (9‐year‐olds) and 37.7 per cent (5‐year‐olds) of total dmfs was present as untreated decay; between 39.1 per cent (7‐year‐olds) and 42.8 per cent (10‐year‐olds) occurred on interproximal surfaces; and between 2.0 per cent (10‐year‐olds) and 27.8 per cent (5‐year‐olds) occurred in anterior teeth. In the permanent dentition, the majority of permanent caries experience occurred as fillings in pits and fissures of first molars and involved a single surface. Between 11.8 per cent (5‐year‐olds) and 31.8 per cent (12‐year‐olds) of children had a reported history of toothache, although the figure exceeded 50 per cent among children with all three forms of pit/fissure, interproximal and smooth‐surface caries experience. The observed pattern of caries provides the basis for continued use of fissure sealants as a preventive measure among school children.