Abstract
The results of dental examinations and the contents of consultation with parents or guardians at the time of examination were compiled for 1,529 1-year-old infants without having any particular motivation who received dental examinations. The results of this study were as follows:
1. The mean number of erupted teeth in infants aged 1 year and 0 months was 7.5.
2. Dental caries affected 3.2% of the infants aged 1 year and 0 to 5 months and 10.5% of the infants aged 1 year and 6 to 11 months.
3. Among the infants afflicted with caries,85.7% had not been weaned.61.8% were generally breast fed before going to bed or during the night, and 29.1% were bottle-fed before going to bed or during the night.
4. When parents with 1-year-old infants were asked if they felt anxious about their children's oral health, the most common response was“aversion to teeth-brushing”, followed by “teeth alignment”and “methods of brushing their children's teeth”.
5. Of the infants who received dental exam inations at age 1,43.0% continued to receive regular pediatric dental care. Among those infants who become regular patients, only 4.4% were afflicted with caries in examinations at age 1. Moreover,44.4% of the parents of infants who came to receive regular care had answered at the dental examination that they had “no particular anxieties”. Thus it was clear that even without caries or a particular motivation, there are many infants who come to receive regular pediatric dental care due to the approach of the dentist.
