title: Toothbrushing and the occurrence of salivary mutans streptococci children at day care centers.
abstract: Risk factors for the occurrence of salivary mutans streptococci (MS) were surveyed in 677 children aged 1-8 years (4.9 +/- 1.2; mean +/- SD) at 20 municipal day care centers in Oulu. As a part of an intervention program to reduce the spread of infectious diseases, toothbrushing was discontinued in 10 centers, the other 10 serving as controls. The test for MS was performed on 506 children before the 8-month intervention, on 358 at the end and on 345 on both occasions. Past caries experience was recorded from the children's dental health cards (dmf). Dental health habits were evaluated by means of questionnaires filled in by the parents. The occurrence of MS varied from 43.4 to 48.0%. Although those children who cleaned their teeth regularly at home carried less MS than those who did so irregularly (46.4 vs. 64.9%, p < 0.001), the withdrawal of toothbrushing at the day care center did not increase the incidence of MS. The occurrence of MS was increased by consumption of sweets containing sucrose (p < 0.01) and reduced by the regular use of fluoride tablets (p < 0.02). Logistic modeling showed a positive MS test to be associated significantly with older age (p < 0.01) and female sex (p < 0.05) in addition to toothbrushing at home (p < 0.001). The children with positive tests had significantly higher mean (+/- SD) dmf than those with negative ones (1.6 +/- 2.7 vs. 0.3 +/- 1.2, p < 0.001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Oulu Municipal Health Center, University of Oulu, Finland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Raitio
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Möttönen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uhari
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002656:Child Day Care Centers; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003140:Communicable Disease Control; D004245:DMF Index; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D005459:Fluorides / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D012463:Saliva / Q000382:microbiology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D013295:Streptococcus mutans / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D013395:Sucrose / Q000008:administration & dosage; D013607:Tablets; D014099:Toothbrushing
chemical_list: D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D013607:Tablets; D013395:Sucrose; D005459:Fluorides