CARIES EXPERIENCE IN LATVIAN NURSERY-SCHOOL CHILDREN

In 1993 the dental health was assessed in 631 Latvian 3-4-yr-old nurse ry school children. Forty-eight percent of the 3-yr-olds and 26% of th e 4-yr-olds were caries free. The mean dmft for the total sample was 3 .2 (2.2 and 3.8 in the 3-and 4-yr-olds, respectively). Molar caries, a ccounting for 66% of the total dmft score, was dominant in both age gr oups. Sixteen percent of the children had received restorations, 38% o f which manifested recurrent caries. Recurrent caries was relatively m ore frequent in the younger children. Concomitant with a general incre ase in caries level, the polarization of the disease was less pronounc ed in the older children. The upper 25% of the distribution for 3- and 4-yr-olds contained 74% and 40% of the dmft, respectively. Daily toot hbrushing was reported for 60% of the children. Of those, 38% used flu oride-containing dentifrice. No significant associations were found be tween caries experience and toothbrushing frequency, use of fluoride d entifrice or parents' education.