title: Incidence of caries of the primary teeth (IT) in 3- to 8-year-old children in Plovdiv.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is a recognized trend of a decrease of the caries incidence of primary teeth (It) in Europe and worldwide.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The need for updated data for the indicator It, as well as the need to study the trends of its development determine the aim of the present study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study includes 1124 children from 3 to 8 years of age--536 girls and 588 boys, from randomly selected kindergartens and schools in Plovdiv. The carious and filled primary teeth were registered (df). The following indicators were determined: incidence of caries of primary teeth (It), total and by jaws; incidence of the untreated caries (Id); incidence of the treated caries (If).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The obtained data suggest that It increases with age. No statistically significant difference was found between the values of the two genders, as well as in the comparison by jaws. A marked trend of decrease of the values of It in the last 5 years is outlined, as well as of distribution of the predominant percentage of carious and filled teeth into an increasingly smaller group of children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Medical University, 15A Vassil Aprilov St., 4000 Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Emilia L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Ilieva
authors.forename: Vania K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Veleganova
authors.forename: Ani B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Belcheva
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D002031:Bulgaria / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019140:Dental Care for Children; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014094:Tooth, Deciduous