Janet A. Brunelle

Coronal caries in the primary and permanent dentition of children and adolescents 1-17 years of age: United States, 1988-1991.

The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey-Phase 1, conducted from 1988 to 1991 in the United States, included an assessment of dental caries in US children and adolescents and provided the opportunity for differences in dental caries status to be viewed by age, sex, race, and race-ethnicity. The measurement of dental caries in children and adolescents from 2 to 17 years of age included the number of decayed, missing, and filled permanent tooth surfaces and teeth, and the number of decayed and filled primary tooth surfaces and teeth. Additionally, a brief visual inspection for the presence or absence of early childhood caries in the maxillary incisors was conducted for children 12 to 23 months of age. The survey yielded weighted estimates for 1988–1991 for over 58 million US children and adolescents 1 to 17 years of age. For infants aged 12 to 23 months, 0.8% were scored positive for early childhood caries. Over 60% (62.1%) of the children aged 2 to 9 years were caries-free in their primary dentition. Over half (54.7%) of the children 5 to 17 years were caries-free in their permanent dentition. The occurrence of caries in the permanent dentition is clustered: A quarter of the children and adolescents ages 5 to 17 with at least one permanent tooth accounted for about 80% of the caries experienced in permanent teeth. Differences in caries experience were found among race and race-ethnicity subpopulations, and caries patterns for the primary and permanent dentition were dissimilar. Further analyses are needed to explore other potential determinants of caries in children.

Recent Trends in Dental Caries in U.S. Children and the Effect of Water Fluoridation

The decline in dental caries in U.S. schoolchildren, first observed nationwide in 1979–1980, was confirmed further by a second national epidemiological survey completed in 1987. Mean DMFS scores in persons aged 5–17 years had decreased about 36% during the interval, and, in 1987, approximately 50% of children were caries-free in the permanent dentition. Children who had always been exposed to community water fluoridation had mean DMFS scores about 18% lower than those who had never lived in fluoridated communities. When some of the “background” effect of topical fluoride was controlled, this difference increased to 25%. The results suggest that water fluoridation has played a dominant role in the decline in caries and must continue to be a major prevention methodology.

Coronal and root caries in the dentition of adults in the United States, 1988-1991.

Dental public health policy planning requires accurate and current information about the extent of caries in the United States population. These data are available from the caries examination from Phase 1 of the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which found that 94% of adults in the United States show evidence of past or present coronal caries. Among the dentate, the mean number of decayed and filled coronal surfaces per person was 21.5. Dentate females had a lower number of untreated coronal tooth surfaces with caries (1.5), but a higher mean number of treated and untreated surfaces per person (22.7) than males, with scores of 2.1 and 20.2, respectively. Estimates for race-ethnicity groups were standardized by age and gender to control for population differences among them. Dentate non-Hispanic blacks (11.9) and Mexican-Americans (14.1) had half the number of decayed and filled coronal surfaces as non-Hispanic whites (24.3), but more untreated surfaces (non-Hispanic whites, 1.5; non-Hispanic blacks, 3.4; Mexican-Americans, 2.8). Mexican-Americans were most likely to be dentate, had the highest average number of teeth, and had 25% fewer decayed, missing, and filled coronal surfaces (37.6) than non-Hispanic blacks (49.2) and non-Hispanic whites (51.0). Root caries affected 22.5% of the dentate population. Blacks had the most treated and untreated root surfaces with caries (1.6), close to the value for Mexican-Americans (1.4). The score for non-Hispanic whites was 1.1. Untreated root caries is most common in dentate non-Hispanic blacks (1.5), followed by Mexican-Americans (1.2), with non-Hispanic whites (0.6) having the fewest untreated carious root surfaces. Race-ethnicity groups were disparate with respect to dental caries; effort is needed to treat active caries common in some population subgroups.

Effects of Different Eating Patterns on Dental Caries in the Rat

Fewer smooth surface carious lesions developed in rats fed a high-sucrose diet (2000) administered by a feeding machine delivering 22 portions (‘meals’) per day when additional meals of cheese (‘snack

Prevalence of Total Tooth Loss, Dental Caries, and Periodontal Disease in Mexican-American Adults: Results from the Southwestern HHANES

The Southwestern portion of the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HHANES) was conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) in 1982 and 1983. The survey population was Mexican-Americans residing in five Southwestern states. This report presents data on the prevalence of total tooth loss, dental caries, and periodontal diseases in 3860 Mexican-American adults aged from 18 to 74. Results show that 4.3% of this group was edentulous. Among the dentate, Mexican-Americans had lower overall DMF scores but higher numbers of untreated decayed teeth than did residents of the same region seen in the NHANES I survey in 1971-1974. Caries of the smooth surfaces in both posterior and anterior teeth was more pronounced in the older than in the younger age groups. Mexican-Americans had more gingivitis but fewer periodontal pockets than did the general population in the Western states during NHANES 1. The caries pattern in the Mexican-Americans suggests that caries among adults may remain a problem in the future, with the possibility of increased involvement with the aging, although modest, of smooth tooth surfaces.

Dental Caries in HIV-seropositive Women

Reports that compare dental caries indices in HIV-seropositive (HIV+) subjects with HIV-seronegative (HIV-) subjects are rare. The objective of this study was to determine if there was an association between HIV infection and dental caries among women enrolled in the Women’s Interagency HIV Study. Subjects included 538 HIV+ and 141 HIV- women at baseline and 242 HIV+ and 66 HIV- women at year 5. Caries indices included DMFS and DFS (coronal caries) and DFSrc (root caries). Cross-sectional analysis of coronal caries data revealed a 1.2-fold-higher caries prevalence among HIV+ women compared with HIV- women. Longitudinally, DMFS increased with increasing age and lower average stimulated salivary volume. Root caries results were not significant except for an overall increased DFSrc associated with smoking. Anti-retroviral therapy was not identified as a risk factor for dental caries.

Effects of varying intervals between meals on dental caries in rats.

All the available evidence indicates that the incidence of dental caries is related to the frequency of ingestion of sugars. However, the influence of varying intervals between exposure to sugars whil

Effect of Copper Applied Topically or in Drinking Water on Experimental Caries in Rats

The effect of copper sulfate applied topically or in drinking water on dental caries was investigated in rats. Two daily topical applications of 0.2 ml of 5.0 m M Cu2+ as

Effect of Topical Application of Copper in Combination with Fluoride in Drinking Water on Experimental Caries in Rats

A cariostatic effect of copper sulfate was observed in rats in a recent study by Afseth et al. In the present study, effects of the combination of topically applied copper with fluo

Effects of Flushings with an Acidic Calcium Phosphate Solution on Fluoride Binding and Caries in Rat Teeth

This investigation, comprising three studies, measured the effects of flushing with an acidic calcium phosphate solution (CPS) on the cariostatic benefits of fluoride. In the first two studies, the ra