The subjects, who were children from 1.5 to 3 years of age, were examined under the dental health examination system. We investigated the effects of caries arrestment based on the recall system. We also compared the caries prevalence with the mean df-teeth of the examination group (regular recall group) and the non-examination group (non-regular recall group) when the children were 3 and 6years old.
1. At 3 years of age, the caries prevalence was 60.6% in the non-examination group and 42.4% in the examination group. A difference was seen between the two groups. (p< 0.001)
2. At 3 years of age, the mean df-teeth was 3.47 in the non-examination group and 2.03 in the examination group. A difference was also seen between the two groups. (p< 0.001)
3. At 6 years of age, the caries prevalence was 88.4% in the non-examination group and 77.6% in the examination group. A difference was found between the two groups. (p< 0.001)
4. At 6 years of age, the mean df-teeth was 7.42 in the non-examination group and 5.54 in the examination group. A difference was also found between the two groups. (p< 0.001)
According to the results above, this study suggested that the effects of caries arrestment among children attending regular dental health examination can be continued until the age of six years.

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The aim of this study was to investigate the relationshi p between the age of the mother to the prevalence of dental caries of first-born children participating in a health care program in Ishii-cho, Tokushima, Japan. A total of 2,067 pairs of mother and child participated in this study and the children were examined at ages one year-six months, two years-six months, three years-six months and five years of age.
The mother and child pairs were sorted into four groups according to the age of the mother at the time of the birth of the first-born children (G 1: 22 years and below, G 2: 23-28 years, G 3: 29-34 years, G 4: 35 years and over)
The following results were obtained:
1) At one year six months children in G 4 had the highest caries prevalence and mean df score.
2) At two years-six months children in G 1 had the highest caries prevalence and mean df score.
3) At three years-six months children in G 1 had the highest caries prevalence and mean df score.
4) At five years children in G 3 had the lowest caries prevalence and mean df score.
5) At one year-six months the percentage of children that had not been weaned was highest in G 1and G 4, and that was lowest in G 3.
6) At one year-six months the percentage of children who were bottle-feeding while sleeping was highest in G 2 and G 4, and that was lowest in G 3.
7) At all ages, the number of mothers who brush their children's teeth daily was lower in G 1. Daily brushing of the teeth of the children by the mothers was highest at age two years-six months but was lowest at five years in G 4.
Findings of this study suggest that age of the mother is a risk factor in the development of dental caries among first-born children.

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The dry skulls of 160 Indian infants were used. The period of the mandibular growth was divided into six stages, from the pre-eruption stage of the primary teeth through the eruption stage of the central and lateral permanent incisors, and the mode of the mandibular growth was compared among these stages. The following results were obtained.
With an increase in the dental age, the values increased for all of following parameters, the minimal breadth, height, and vertical height of mandibular ramus with respect to the mandibular ramus, the mandibular length and the length of the mandibular body, both representing the length of the mandible, the condylar breadth, the maximal breadth of the condyle, the angular breadth of the mandible and the anterior mandibular breadth, which were all related to the growth rate of the mandibular width. These mandibular parameters showed maximal growth at the eruption stage of the primary teeth in particular. The second largest growth was seen after the second primary molar had completely erupted or at the start of eruption of the permanent teeth. The growth was slow at the eruption stage of the central and lateral permanent incisors. Exceptionally, the maximal sagittal breadth of the condyle showed no changes in the period from the pre-eruption stage of the primary teeth through the stage of the completed primary dentition. It started to show a significant increase only at the beginning of the eruption stage of the permanent teeth. Although the mandibular notch showed a transient decrease in both its width and height at the eruption stage of the primary teeth, it subsequently increased with an increase in the dental age. The mandibular notch growth increased at the eruption stage of the second primary molar, reaching its maximum at the beginning of the eruption stage of the permanent teeth. The angles of both the mandible and the mandibular ramus decreased with an increase in the dental age, and the decreases were largest at the beginning of the eruption stage of the permanent teeth. The antegonial notch continued to show a gradual decrease after completion of the primary dentition. It was assumed that the growth of the mandible occurred primarily in the body of the mandible, from which the growth was induced in the mandibular ramus and condyle, and that the spurt of the growth of the mandibular body was correlated with eruption of the teeth. It was suggested that, in addition to the factors discussed above, an increase in intramembranous ossification of the mandible itself is involved in securing the available arch space for eruption of the posterior molars.

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In order to characterize the eating style of preschool children, the number of chews and the period of the chewing of four different kinds of provided lunch were measured in this study. The eating style of three healthy preschool children aged four years was recorded on videotape while eating lunches with four different menus. Each lunch menu for all subjects was arranged in the same content and same weight. As a control, the eating style of three healthy adult volunteers with the mean age of 30years was recorded and analyzed by the same method as for the children. The total numbers of the chews of the in children with each lunch ranged from 480 to 1379, showing that there were no significant differences among the four lunches, although there were significant differences among the 3 children. The average number of the chews of the preschool children was approximately two times that of the adults, showing that a significant difference between the group of preschool children and adults. Furthermore, the values of the coefficient of variation on the number of chews of onemouthful foods in each preschool child were higher than that of each adult, indicating that the number of chews of one-mouthful food of preschool children exhibited more diversification than that of adults.

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The aim of the present study was to clarify the relationship between dental fear of young adults and their childhood dental histories.
The subjects were divided into two groups, Group 1 and Group 2 based on their dental experiences. The subjects of Group 1 comprised 45 patients (with a mean age of 16.6) who had undergone periodical examinations at the Pediatric Dental Clinic of Niigata University Dental Hospital for more than 10 years. The subjects of Group 2 comprised 51 patients (with a mean age of 17.5) who had never undergone periodical examinations at our clinic since they were 5 years old. All of the subjects of both groups had undergone dental treatment at our clinic using a restraining device below the age of 4. The Dental Fear Survey (DFS) was conducted with the subjects by mail. Dental experiences of all of the responding subjects were checked according to their dental charts. We then clarified the relationship between dental histories and DFS scores.
The mean DFS scores of Group 1 and Group 2 were 34.6 and 45.4, respectively. The score of Group 1 was significantly lower than that of Group 2 (p<0.01). Between the two groups, there was no difference in dental experience below the age of 4. Although all of the subjects of the both groups had been subjected to physical immobilization during dental treatment below the age of 4, the mean score of Group 1 was lower than that of Group 2. The mean score of Group 2 was indeed almost the same as that of the Japanese general public (This being 45.2, as we reported in the previous study). According to the findings, the amount of dental fear in young adulthood did not seem to be affected by dental experiences below the age of 4.
Additionally, we were not able to find any dental procedure which was closely related to the DFS score based on regression analysis. The results showed the possibility that periodical examinations may allay the dental fear of child patients. In considering behavior management in pediatric dentistry, we should therefore carefully cope not only with uncooperative patients in early childhood but also with school age patients and young adult during the periodical visits.

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of fused primary teeth and congenitally missing primary teeth on the eruption of the permanent successors and on the development of the permanent dentitions. Dental casts and clinical records of thirty children who had fused teeth or congenitally missing teeth among their mandibular primary anterior teeth were used in this study.
The following results were obtained. Ten cases had normal successors in their permanent teeth. In two of those cases, four permanent incisors were aligned between both primary canines. In the other cases, the primary canines exfoliated or were extracted when the lateral incisors erupted. Lingual arches were set to maintain the space for permanent teeth for the most of those cases, resulting in a fairly good alignment of the permanent dentitions.
In the cases with fused successors and the cases without successors, most of the fused primary teeth or teeth adjacent to the missing teeth exfoliated spontaneously, followed by the eruption of the successors. Over bite or over jet of most of those cases in permanent dentitions were rather large. Although many cases had interdental spaces in their mandibular permanent dentitions, most of the spaces were located between a canine and a first premolar or between posterior teeth. Only one case with two missing anterior teeth developed a large diastema and was provided with orthodontic treatment and prosthodontic treatment.

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The caries reduction achieved by the use of fluorides has been a major public health accomplishment. The topical application of fluoridation is used widely to perform one of the prevention methods of dental caries. In the pedodontic clinic at the Tokyo Dental College Suidobashi Hospital, the use of acidulated phosphate fluoride (APF) gels with artificial sweetener added, containing 1.23% fluoride are used for application to the topical application of fluoridation for the degree which is the same as the APF solution to be using.
This study was to investigate a survey of the experience in the fluoridation, the type of artificial sweetener, their selected thoughts and items concerning patients and their parents to whom fluoridation was applied in our clinic. Many of the child patients to whom fluoridation was applied were six year old. The lower age children showed tendency to like taste of the artificial sweetener. As their age advanced, children came to like the mint taste with the feeling of coolness rather than the strongly sweet taste.
In this study, the APF gels with artificial sweetener added were generally accepted by the children. The artificial sweetener addition to APF gels with artificial sweetener added were effective in reducer the unpleasant feeling experienced by children. It was valid with introduction of the topical application of fluoridation to the lower age children.

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In this study, the enamel surface was irradiated using the Nd: YAG laser while the structural changes were observed using SEM imagery. The total amount of irradiation energy the output of the 200 J was distributed repeatedly at a speed of 10 pps, with the output set up only within the 100-900 mj range, at intervals of 100 mj and thus divided into 9 stages. The changes in each stage wer e examined and compared. With the results as follows:
1. When the Nd: YAG laser output is low, the formation of crater-like depressions with a structure resembling that of a lava flow after cooling tends to be minimal. On the other hand, a high output conspicuously brings about a degeneration of the smooth, linear and uniform tooth surface.
2. At every stage of irradiation output, the formation of reticulated fissures and small orifices was observed. No clear observation could be made, however with regard to differences in the number of formations or the effect of their size.

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Mouth opening movements have been used as a method to evaluate mandibular function. This should be based on the fact that both the lower incisal and the condylar movements are deeply interrelated each other, as far as the authors know, no report has been published on children with primary dentition concerning this important matter.
To clarify this point, twenty-fou r children with primary dentition and twenty-six women with healthy permanent dentition were selected as the subjects. Their habitual open-close movements were measured three times, respectively by using an optoelectronic analysis system (TRIMET) with 6 degrees movement at a sampling frequency of 100 Hz. 1) anterior-posterior and 2) vertical ranges,3)three-dimensional straight distance and 4) three-dimensional curvilinear distance were measured and analyzed for both the lower incisor and right and left condyles. Their coefficient variances were also calculated. Coefficient correlations between the lower incisor and condyles among all four variables were calculated to find the relationships between two measuring points. The following results were obtained,
1) Children showed smaller ranges and distances than women for both the lower incisor and condyles.
2) Children had smaller coefficient variances in all variables than children, with the exception of the vertical range for both incisor and condyles.
3) Variables for the lower incisor significantly correlated with those of at condyles both in children and women.
4) The individual coefficient correlation for the items of measurement for the lower incisor and the condyles showed a tendency to be lower for the women than for the children, but the individual coefficient con-elation within each group was smaller for the children than for the women.
According to these results, the habitual opening movement was justified as a subjective movement to estimate the condylar movement from that of the lower incisor for children with primary dentition. Repeated measurements were, however, recommended to apply this movement to children with primary dentition.

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The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of fluoride, calcium and xylitol on remineralization of initial caries-like enamel lesions. In this study, we evaluated the behavior of the ions, the fluoride uptake into the enamel and remineralization using the pH-cycling method with various concentrations of sodium fluoride, calcium lactate and xylitol.
There sults were obtained as follows:
1. Calcium fluoride was generated quan titatively up to equivalence point (F: Ca= 2: 1) based on the study of the adding of calcium ions to a fluoride ion aqueous solution.
2. Fluoride deposition increased significantly by the use of sodium fluoride, xylitol and calcium groups compared with the group with sodium fluoride alone and the sodium fluoride and xylitol groups.
3. Groups treated with sodium fluoride, xylitol and calcium significantly increased remineralization compared with the group with sodium fluoride alone and the sodium fluoride and xylitol groups.
4. Groups treated with sodium fluoride and xylitol increased remineralization compared with the group with sodium fluoride alone but there was no significant difference. Also there was no difference in remineralization based on the concentrations of xylitol.

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Trauma in the oral territory is suitable for the field of the c linical ambulant. There are many cases in which there is difficulty with the epithesis fixing method specially in the case of the primary anterior teeth in trauma of the lower age child and immature anterior teeth trauma. We applied epithesis fixation using the aspiration conformer mouth guard for the primary anterior teeth and immature permanent anterior teeth dislocated by the trauma. For the epithesis fixation with trauma of the primary anterior teeth and the immature permanent anterior teeth, fixation using the aspiration conformer mouth guard which can be fabricated comparatively easily because fixation by the wire splint is difficult, is thought to be useful for the primary anterior teeth and immature permanent anterior teeth.

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We examined the changes of awareness with respect to dental management and the actual modification of behavior. Dental health education given to care-giver on admission of patients who needed intensive dental treatment under general anesthesia obviously changed their awareness and behavior in terms of tooth brushing and snack intake, showing the effectiveness of health education. Some responders did not however modify their behavior despite their answer of “changed” to the question about awareness, indicating the difficulties involved in behavioral modification. Moreover, awareness and behavior with respect to snack intake were lower than that for tooth brushing, indicating the need to raise awareness of the importance of eating habits, including snack intake, in dental disease prevention and to improve the content and frequency of health education. In conclusion, a single health educational session on admission as well as further health education during periodic medical check-ups should be given to care-giver to motivate them. This will improve effective oral hygiene care in their daily routines after their patients have undergone intensive dental treatment under general anesthesia. If further follow-up survey for this research can be implemented, it will provide a more definite conclusion.

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This study was carried out to evaluate the caries preventive effect of a fluoride releasing coating material (Clearseal®a, product of Kuraray Co.) applied to mesial surface of the young permanent first molars.
Sixty-seven children with dental ages of III A to IIIB, who visited the pediatric dental clinic of the Tsurumi University Dental Hospital, participated in this study.
The coating material was applied to 119 mesial surfaces of the first permanent molars (48 upper and 71 lower teeth) after being diagnosed as intact or incipiently carious (CO or C 1) by inspection, palpation and bite-wing X-lay examinations. These teeth were randomly selected after more than three years of follow-up observation.
Besides these teeth,30 mesial surfaces of the first permanent molars which had not been treated by any other means than fluoride application were used as the control, and these 30 mesial surfaces were evaluated retrospectively with bite-wing X-ray examinations. The application of the coating material followed three methods depending on the clinical findings of the adjacent primary second molars: 1. group using the Eriot separater, having CO carious lesions on distal surface of the primary second molars (ED) but restoration was unnecessary,2. restoration group, having C 1 or C 2 carious lesion on ED and cavity preparation was necessary,3. extraction group, extraction indicated for the primary second molars.
The caries preventive or protective effect for the mesial surfaces of the permanent first molars (the abbreviation should be 6 M) was evaluated by oral examination as well as bite-wing X-ray pictures taken at the most recent occasion.
Among 119 permanent first molars,82 teeth were not affected by carious lesions and the 6 M protective rate was 68.9%. The caries protective rates of the groups 1,2, and 3 were 69.2%,60.7%,87.5% respectively.37 teeth were involved in the restoration and these restorations were taking place after 2 years 6 months on the average. On the other hand, the 30 control teeth showed significantly high involvement of dental caries and restoration (the restored 6 M rate was 90.4%).
It is suggested that the application of the fluoride releasing coating material is effective for preventing caries of the mesial surface of the permanent first molar.

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