Prevalence of caries in urban Australian aborigines aged 1-3.5 years.
OBJECTIVE
This study investigated the prevalence and etiological factors associated with caries in a group of young Australian aboriginal children from 1 to 3.5 years of age.


METHODS
One hundred and forty-seven healthy infants, aged from 1 to 3.5 years, attending a community health center in Brisbane, a nonfluoridated state capital city, were randomly selected for the study.


RESULTS
The caries prevalence was 39% by subjects and 32% by the total number of teeth present. The mean number of decayed, filled teeth (dtf) was 2.5 +/- 0.4, which is more than twice the figure for 3-year-old children in Australia. Furthermore, the filled (f) component represented only 1% of the total dft, suggesting very low treatment levels. Increased caries experience of the infants was strongly associated with high dental plaque scores, high levels of Streptococcus mutans infection, and sleep-time consumption of milk containing added sugar.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that urban Australian aboriginal infants are at high risk for caries, and that preventive strategies are urgently required.
Seow
W K
WK
Pediatric Dentistry, University of Queensland.
Amaratunge
A
A
Sim
R
R
Wan
A
A
D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology; D003774:Dental Plaque Index; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011793:Queensland / Q000453:epidemiology; D012463:Saliva / Q000382:microbiology; D013295:Streptococcus mutans / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000095283:Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples