title: Development and distribution of proximal caries in 303 9-20-year-old individuals in a Copenhagen suburb.
abstract: The purpose of the present study was to establish a theoretical basis for the practice of screening for identification of caries risk groups. Longitudinal data concerning the development of proximal caries in 303 persons from the age of 9 to the age of 20 were examined with regard to statistical distribution. Data from each year and from the entire period showed a close fit to the negative binomial distribution. This distribution can be the result of independent random occurrences, but varying susceptibility. Thus the consistent existence of a caries risk group is illustrated by this analysis, but no prediction is made. It is suggested that future evaluations of preventive measure directed toward caries risk groups should express the degree to which the similarity between the distribution of proximal caries and the negative binomial distribution can be eliminated.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D004245:DMF Index; D003718:Denmark; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000209:etiology*; D003733:Dental Caries Susceptibility; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D011336:Probability; D012189:Retrospective Studies