Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of proximal caries in primary molars and the factors influencing proximal caries.
The subjects were 302 children aged 3 years, outpatients of our dental hospital.
Bite-Wing X-ray examinations were used to diagnose carious lesions of the posterior proximal surfaces.
The factors which had an affect on the proximal caries prevalence were analyzed by using Hayashi's Quantification theory.
The conclusions we reached were as follows:
1) X-ray examinations with Bite-Wings revealed proximal caries in 50.7% of the distal surfaces of the first primary molars and the mesial surfaces of the second primary molars. Most lesions had not reached the enamel-dentin junction.
2) In 302 children,77.2 % of them had one or more proximal caries in the primary molars. The caries prevalence of the proximal surfaces were significantly related each other.
3) The children who already had smooth surface caries showed a high incidence of proximal caries in the primary molars.
4) The factor having the largest effect on the estimation of posterior proximal caries prevalence was the present intra-oral condition. Especially,“Value of Cariostat”and“Intake of sweets”were related remarkably to the proximal caries prevalence.
