Abstract
Dental surveys were made of infants of one year and a half of age from nine areas throughout Japan. Pedodontic Departments of nine dental schools participated in these surveys, and the methods of the investigation were to standardize as much as possible. Out of these, three areas, Sendai, Yokosuka, and Tokushima, were selected here, and the correlation between dietary habits and dental caries incidence was investigated.
Results:
1) As to the incidence of dental caries, bottle-fed infants tended to show the lowest, and irregularly fed children showed higher in ratios each area. The dft index was significantly higher in one area.
2) Fooding styles of the infants were different among the areas, and, in general, the incidence of dental caries tended to be higher in the group of breast-fed infants, and lower in the group of milk-fed infants.
3) Bottle feeding lasted up to 12 months after birth in a few cases, and it was suggested that bottle-fed infants showed a tendency toward a higher incidence of multiple dental caries.
4) Infants who ate much food when they were one year and a half of age showed a lower tendency concerning the incidence of caries.
5) As for between mealsnack, the caries incidence was higher in groups where snacks were eaten at unfixed times frequency, and place. The authors, therefore, were able to propose an instruction as guide for the prevention of dental caries.
