title: Assessment of caries risk in preschool children.
abstract: The study aimed to assess the additional caries-predictive value of visible plaque, gingival bleeding, and the reported use of fluorides and candies, when combined with the information about mutans streptococci (MS) and incipient carious lesions. The subjects were 2 years of age at the baseline examination (n = 226), and they were all given conventional prevention during the 3-year follow-up period. None of the studied single risk indicators reached an accuracy of 80% in predicting the 3-year caries increment. At best, the accuracy was 75% for the MS strip. Use of candies and incipient caries lesions had additional caries-predictive value (multiple logistic regression analysis). The combined use of these three risk indicators resulted in an accuracy of 81%. The present results indicate that in 2-year-old children, the combination of two or three risk indicators (MS strip, incipient caries lesions, and use of candies) might have caries-predictive power enough for clinical implications.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Dentistry, University of Turku, Turku, Finland. kaipie@utu.fi
authors.forename: Kaisu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pienihäkkinen
authors.forename: Jorma
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jokela
authors.forename: Pentti
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Alanen
mesh_terms: D002182:Candy / Q000009:adverse effects; D002327:Cariostatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D003733:Dental Caries Susceptibility; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000150:complications; D005459:Fluorides / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005544:Forecasting; D005884:Gingival Hemorrhage / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D013295:Streptococcus mutans / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D002327:Cariostatic Agents; D005459:Fluorides