COMPARISON OF TOOTH SURFACE-SPECIFIC DENTAL-CARIES ATTACK PATTERNS INUNITED-STATES SCHOOLCHILDREN FROM 2 NATIONAL SURVEYS

The 1979-1980 and the 1986-1987 National Institute of Dental Research (NIDR) surveys of school-aged children revealed that virtually all too th surfaces experienced a decrease in caries prevalence during the int er-survey period. Overall, there was a 28% decrease in the proportion of tooth surfaces attacked by caries for the primary dentition between the two surveys. The decrease for primary incisors was numerically sm all (5 surfaces per thousand surfaces at risk) and not statistically s ignificant, whereas decreases in the canines and primary molars were c onsiderably larger (23 surfaces per thousand) and statistically signif icant. For the permanent dentition, the overall decrease in the propor tion of surfaces attacked was 35% during the 1979-87 period. Differenc es between the two surveys in the proportions of surfaces with caries were largest for pit and fissure surfaces (56 surfaces per thousand), followed by those for posterior approximal surfaces (14 surfaces per t housand) and all other smooth surfaces (5 surfaces per thousand). Almo st all of these differences were statistically significant, except for some surfaces which experienced very few caries.