Abstract
In order to know the important factors that are related to dental caries in pediatric clinic, data were collected and analyzed. Tests on dental caries such as the saliva test and measurement of caries causing microorganism and dental questionnaire were conducted after a series of dental treatments on seventy-three children in deciduous dentition. The following seventeen caries related factors, meal contents, frequency of taking food and drink, snack food, drink along snack, amount of dental plaque,Streptococcus mutans in plaque, Streptococcus mutans in saliva, amount of stimulated saliva, amount of Lactobacillus species, amount of stimulated saliva, buffering capacity of saliva, fluoride usage,numbers of brothers and sisters, frequency of tooth brushing, parent assisted tooth brushing, child position at the time of assisted tooth brushing, use of flossing and xylitol exposure, were numerically ranked and statistically analyzed. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and Mann-Whitney U test were used for the statistic analysis among the factors.Statistically significant relations to dental caries experience was found in Streptococcus mutans in plaque and saliva, amount of dental plaque, frequency of taking food and drink and meal contents. In addition to these factors, significant difference was found in the amount of Lactobacillus species and xylitol exposure between children with and without dental caries. On the other hand, the amount of plaque was not dependent on factors that are related to tooth cleaning. And the amount of saliva and the buffering capacity of saliva increased in accordance with the age of the children.
