title: Dental caries' experience, prevalence and severity in Mexican adolescents and young adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Determining dental caries' experience, prevalence and severity in students applying for degree courses at San Luis Potosi University (UASLP).
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was carried out involving adolescents and young adults (16 to 25 years old) applying for undergraduate courses at UASLP (approximately 10 %, n=1 027). Two standardized examiners undertook dental examinations; DMFT index, prevalence (DMFT>0), severity (DMFT>3 and DMFT>6) and significant caries index (SiC) were calculated. STATA 9.0 non-parametric tests were used for statistical analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean age was 18.20+/-1.65; 48.0% were female. The DMFT index was 4.04+/-3.90 and caries prevalence was 74.4%. Regarding caries' severity, 48.8% had MDFT>3 and 24% DMFT>6. The SiC index was 8.64. Females had higher caries experience than males (4.32+/-4.01 cf 3.78+/-3.78; p<0.05), but similar prevalence and severity (p>0.05). Age was associated with both experience (p<0.001) and prevalence (p<0.01) and to differing degrees of caries' severity (p<0,001). The "filled teeth" component had the highest DMFT index percentage (63.6%) and "missing teeth" the lowest (11.4%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High dental caries' experience, prevalence and severity were observed in this sample of adolescents and young adults. Restorative experience was high (59.5%) compared to studies carried out in other parts of Mexico and Latin-America.
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Estomatología, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí, México.
authors.forename: José O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: García-Cortés
authors.forename: Carlo E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Medina-Solís
authors.forename: Juan P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Loyola-Rodriguez
authors.forename: Jorge A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Mejía-Cruz
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Medina-Cerda
authors.forename: Nuria
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Patiño-Marín
authors.forename: América P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Pontigo-Loyola
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult