title: Reasons for the caries decline: what do the experts believe?
abstract: The aim of this paper was to describe what experts of today believe are the main reasons explaining the caries decline seen in many westernized countries over the past 3 decades. We have collected the views of a number of international experts, trying to answer the specific question "What are the main reasons why 20-25-year-old persons have less caries nowadays, compared to 30 years ago?". A questionnaire was mailed to 55 experts with a number of thinkable explanations to be scored according to a predetermined scale. The 25 items were divided into main groups under the heading of diet, fluorides, plaque, saliva, dentist/dental materials and other factors. The experts were asked to think of a specific country or area, and also to specify whether the chosen area had water fluoridation or not. The main finding of our study, based on a 95% response rate, was that there is a very large variation in how the experts graded the impact of various possible factors. For the use of fluoride toothpaste, there was a clear agreement of a definite positive effect.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cariology, Faculty of Odontology, University of Lund, Sweden. Douglas.Bratthall@odcariol.lu.se
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bratthall
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hänsel-Petersson
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sundberg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003764:Dental Materials; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000517:prevention & control; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent; D003815:Dentists; D019049:Developed Countries; D004032:Diet; D019422:Dietary Sucrose / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005457:Fluoridation; D005459:Fluorides / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D012463:Saliva / Q000502:physiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014100:Toothpastes
chemical_list: D003764:Dental Materials; D019422:Dietary Sucrose; D014100:Toothpastes; D005459:Fluorides