title: Intra-oral distribution and impact of caries experience among South Australian school children.
abstract: This report describes the intra-oral distribution of caries and frequency of reported toothache using data from 9690 South Australian children aged 5-15 years. School dental therapists and dentists recorded dmfs and DMFS data and a questionnaire to parents sought information about toothache and its impact. There were higher levels of caries experience in deciduous teeth (mean 6-year-old dmfs = 2.61) compared with permanent teeth (mean 12-year-old DMFS = 1.15). In the deciduous dentition: between 11.4 per cent (9-year-olds) and 37.7 per cent (5-year-olds) of total dmfs was present as untreated decay; between 39.1 per cent (7-year-olds) and 42.8 per cent (10-year-olds) occurred on interproximal surfaces; and between 2.0 per cent (10-year-olds) and 27.8 per cent (5-year-olds) occurred in anterior teeth. In the permanent dentition, the majority of permanent caries experience occurred as fillings in pits and fissures of first molars and involved a single surface. Between 11.8 per cent (5-year-olds) and 31.8 per cent (12-year-olds) of children had a reported history of toothache, although the figure exceeded 50 per cent among children with all three forms of pit/fissure, interproximal and smooth-surface caries experience. The observed pattern of caries provides the basis for continued use of fissure sealants as a preventive measure among school children.
authors.affiliation: AIHW Dental Statistics and Research Unit, University of Adelaide.
authors.forename: G D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Slade
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Burrow
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D003750:Dental Fissures / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008963:Molar / Q000473:pathology; D010290:Parents; D010895:Pit and Fissure Sealants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012575:Schools, Dental; D012890:Sleep; D013021:South Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014070:Tooth / Q000473:pathology; D014094:Tooth, Deciduous / Q000473:pathology; D014098:Toothache / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D010895:Pit and Fissure Sealants