title: Demographic factors and dental health of Swedish children and adolescents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the dental health of Swedish children and adolescents with reference to age, gender and residence.
  
  
  METHODS
  Electronic dental records from 300,988 3-19-year-olds in one Swedish region were derived in a cross-sectional study in years 2007-2009. The DMFT system was used. Age was categorized into 3-6/7-9/10-12/13-15/16-17/18-19-year-olds and residence into 'metropolitan', 'urban' and 'rural' areas. ANOVA, generalized linear regression models and Fisher's exact test were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among 7-9-year-old children, nine out of 10 were free from fillings and manifest caries, while for 18-19-year-olds; this proportion was one third. Girls (18-19-year-olds) had a significantly lower risk of caries compared to boys of the same age, RR for the DT index = 0.83 (95% CI = 0.81-0.85). This pattern was reversed in 7-12-year-old children. Children and adolescents in metropolitan and urban areas had significantly more caries than subjects in rural areas, for instance the RR for the DT index in metropolitan 7-9-year-olds was 2.26 (95% CI = 2.11-2.42) compared to their rural counterparts.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the permanent dentition, the overall pattern revealed that girls ≤ 12 years had a higher risk of caries, while adolescent girls had a lower risk of caries, both compared with boys of corresponding ages. Living in an urban or metropolitan area entailed a higher risk of caries than living in a rural area. A greater occurrence of dental caries in adolescents than in children was confirmed. The findings should have implications for planning and evaluation of oral health promotion and disease prevention activities.
authors.affiliation: a 1 Public Dental Service, Region Västra Götaland , Sweden.|b 2 Department of Behavioural and Community Dentistry, Institute of Odontology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg , Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ann-Catrin André
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.affiliation: b 2 Department of Behavioural and Community Dentistry, Institute of Odontology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg , Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hakeberg
authors.affiliation: c 3 Centre for Applied Biostatistics, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg , Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Petzold
authors.affiliation: a 1 Public Dental Service, Region Västra Götaland , Sweden.|b 2 Department of Behavioural and Community Dentistry, Institute of Odontology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg , Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Anna-Lena
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Östberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003792:Dental Records / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D057286:Electronic Health Records / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D012423:Rural Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012737:Sex Factors; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D014094:Tooth, Deciduous / Q000473:pathology; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Age distribution; dental caries; epidemiology; residence characteristics; sex