Three-year root caries incidence and risk modeling in older adults in North Carolina.
OBJECTIVE
The purposes of this study were to describe the incidence of root caries and to identify its risk factors in a representative sample of older adults.


METHODS
Root caries incidence was estimated and multivariate risk assessment models were developed to identify predictors for root caries in a three-year follow-up study of 234 black and 218 white noninstitutionalized adults aged 65 and older residing in North Carolina.


RESULTS
During the observation period, 29 percent of blacks developed root caries, compared to 39 percent of whites (P < .05). The mean net DFS increment per person was 0.55 +/- 0.13 root surfaces for blacks vs 0.80 +/- 0.21 for whites (P > .32). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that blacks wearing a partial denture, having some root fragments, having an average gingival recession > or = 2 mm, and being free of P. intermedia were at greater risk for developing new root caries. The model for whites showed that retired people with their most severe gingival recession > or = 4 mm, an average probing pocket depth > or = 2 mm, and taking antihistamines were more likely to develop new lesions.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that older blacks had less risk of root caries than whites, and in both groups indicators of poor periodontal status increased the risk of root caries.
Lawrence
H P
HP
Department of Dental Ecology, University of North Carolina School of Dentistry, Chapel Hill 27599-7450, USA.
Hunt
R J
RJ
Beck
J D
JD
D000368:Aged; D044383:Black People; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004245:DMF Index; D003829:Denture, Partial / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005544:Forecasting; D005889:Gingival Recession / Q000453:epidemiology; D006634:Histamine H1 Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D016015:Logistic Models; D015233:Models, Statistical; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009657:North Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D010514:Periodontal Pocket / Q000453:epidemiology; D018713:Prevotella intermedia / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018570:Risk Assessment; D017213:Root Caries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D044465:White People; D001741:Black or African American
D006634:Histamine H1 Antagonists