MUTANS STREPTOCOCCI AND DENTAL-CARIES PREVALENCE IN A GROUP OF LATVIAN PRESCHOOL-CHILDREN

Paraffin-stimulated saliva samples were collected from 140 children 3- and 4-yr old attending nine nursery schools in Latvia. The salivary l evels of mutans streptococci were rated from zero to 3 after being cul tured on a commercially available strip selective for these microorgan isms. Of the children, 29.3% were rated at zero (approximate to <10(4) cfu per ml saliva). This group of children demonstrated the lowest me an caries prevalence dmfs(tot) = 1.5 (SD 1.9). The highest dmfs(tot) w as found among children in class 2 (38.6%;approximate to > 10(5)-10(6) cfu/ml) and class 3 (12.1%; approximate to > 10(6) cfu/ml) with a mea n caries prevalence of 6.5 (SD 5.8) and 6.4 (SD 6.0), respectively. Th e study demonstrates the association between high caries prevalence an d high salivary levels of mutans streptococci in the young child. It i s suggested that early identi-fication of mutans streptococci-colonize d children might be of value in selecting at caries risk children for preventive measures.