title: Dental caries rates in primary teeth in 2002, and caries surveillance trends 1981-2002, in a South African city.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine trends in the prevalence and severity of dental caries in 2- to 5-year-old children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Repeated cross-sectional surveys in 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1994, 1997 and 2002.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nursery schools in Germiston, South Africa.
  
  
  METHODS
  Dental caries was diagnosed by calibrated examiners using WHO criteria in 7,185 2- to 5-year-old children whose parents had given informed consent.
  
  
  METHODS
  Caries prevalence (%), caries experience (dmft).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both caries prevalence and experience showed statistically significant (p < 0.001) fluctuations between study years from 1981 to 2002. A worry is an increase in rates between 1997 and 2002.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a suggestion of a cyclical pattern to the caries rates observed.
authors.affiliation: Dental Research Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. peter.cleaton-jones@wits.ac.za
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cleaton-Jones
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fatti
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004813:Epidemiology / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D014094:Tooth, Deciduous