LACTOBACILLI, MUTANS STREPTOCOCCI AND DENTAL-CARIES - A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY IN 2-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN UP TO THE AGE OF 5 YEARS

A 3-year cohort study was carried out in 252 pre-school children for e arly identification of caries-active individuals. During this period i nformation was collected about the acquisition of mutans streptococci and lactobacilli from the age of 2 till 5 years old. At baseline mutan s streptococci were detected in 43% of the children while the detectio n frequency of lactobacilli was low (11.5%). On an individual level, n umbers of colony-forming units of mutans streptococci and lactobacilli in plaque and saliva varied largely during the study period. The corr elations between the numbers of lactobacilli and mutans streptococci i n the saliva of the mother and the saliva and plaque of the child were low and never exceeded r = 0.22. Very low correlations (<r = 0.22) we re also found between the numbers of mutans streptococci or lactobacil li and the diet in terms of the number of sugar intakes. Nevertheless, in children older than 2.5 years correlations between the clinical ca ries score and lactobacilli in saliva (range 0.31-0.62) and mutans str eptococci in plaque or saliva (range 0.24-0.46) were highly significan t (p<0.01).