Abstract
The aim of this study was to develop a new classification of carious incidence patterns in children. The subjects were 702 children aged 18/19 months and 378 aged 24/25 months. The children's teeth were examined and they were grouped by their carious tooth types at 40/41 months of age the mean dmft and mean dmfs were compared between groups. The following results were obtained.
The children with caries at the age of 18/19 months could be divided into two classes, i. e., children who had carious teeth in only upper anteriors (class 1-A) and those who had carious teeth in molars or lower anteriors (class 1-B). The children with caries at the age of 24/25 months could be divided into four classes, i. e., children who had carious teeth in only the upper incisors or lower molars (class 2-A), those who had carious teeth in the upper cuspids or upper molars but not in the lower anteriors (class 2-B), those who had carious teeth in the lower incisors but not in the lower cuspids (class 2-C), and those who had carious teeth in the lower cuspids (class 2-D).
When the classifications were applied and the carious scores compared between classes at the age of 40/41 months, the children of class 1-A had statistically lower carious scores than those of class 1-B. The children of class 2-A had the lowest carious scores, and those of class 2-B, class 2-C, and class 2-D had significantly more carious teeth in ascending order.
From these results, we suggest that the newly proposed carious incidence patterns of children aged 18/19 months or 24/25 months is useful for predisting the caries prevalence at the age of 40/41 months.
