title: Dental caries and Cariostat test in preschool children.
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the caries status and susceptibility of children in preschool age. Sixty one children ages between 3 to 5 years (mean age 4.38 +/- 0.71) participated in this study. Caries status was assessed according to WHO criteria, and caries susceptibility by using the Cariostat test. The mean df-t was found to be 2.28 +/- 0.71 (df-s 6.26 +/- 11.92) and 31 children were caries-free. Cariostat scores were 1.75, 2.00, 2.16 in the 3, 4, and 5 year age groups respectively. There were no significant differences in caries status or Cariostat scores between boys and girls. The df-t for the 5 year age group was significantly higher than that for the 3 year age groups (p < 0.05). The test found 77% of the children to have a high caries risk (Cariostat score > 2.0).
authors.affiliation: Marmara University, Faculty of Dentistry, Department of Pedodontics, Istanbul, Türkiye.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Akyüz
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kadir
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Erdem
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003732:Dental Caries Activity Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003733:Dental Caries Susceptibility; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data