Abstract
In order to find important factors that relate to dental caries in the daily pediatric clinic, the relationship between dental caries and various factors that were collected at the time of the check-up visit after the series of dental caries treatment had been investigated. In this previous study child patients with deciduous dentition were surveyed and a significant relation with dental caries experience was found for factors like the amount of mutans streptococci (SM) in the dental plaque and saliva, the amount of dental plaque, frequency of food and drink intake, contents of meals, the amount of lactobacillus in saliva and the frequency of xylitol intake. The same survey was conducted in 29 children with mixed dentition in this study. Results were compared to former results in deciduous dentition,and the effects of eruption of the first permanent molar and the increase in age were investigated.The factor most related to dental caries experience in the mixed dentition was the amount of SM,the same as in the deciduous dentition. In addition to the amount of SM, the frequency of food and drink intake and brushing by the parents were significantly related to children's dental caries.Concerning fluoride application, increasing the kinds of fluoride application did not increase its caries preventative effect, the same as in the deciduous dentition study. Although the excretion of saliva and its buffering ability increased in proportion to age in the deciduous dentition, no relation was observed between these factors in the mixed dentition. No relation was observed between SM and the occurrence of dental caries in the first permanent molars of the mixed dentition. The fact that a significant relation was found only with “brushing by the parents” and “brushing in a lying position”was thought to be a useful data for recommending ages that require brushing by the parents.
