DENTAL-CARIES AND CARIES-ASSOCIATED MICROORGANISMS IN THE SALIVA AND PLAQUE OF 3-YEAR-OLD AND 4-YEAR-OLD AFRO-CARIBBEAN AND CAUCASIAN CHILDREN IN SOUTH LONDON

Three and four-year-old Caucasian and Afro-Caribbean children (n = 641 ) attending childcare facilities in the London boroughs of Lambeth, Le wisham and Southwark were studied in order to determine the prevalence of caries and caries-associated micro-organisms and the interactions between these for each of the racial groups; dmft (decayed, missing or filled teeth) scores were recorded using British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry criteria. Saliva and plaque samples were taken from each child and the numbers of mutans streptococci, lactobac illi and yeasts per sample were determined. The mean dmft scores of th e 3- and 4-year-old Afro-Caribbean children were 0.36 +/- 0.10 and 0.5 1 +/- 0.13, respectively, compared to 0.80 +/- 0.17 and 1.48 +/- 0.24 for the equivalent Caucasian children (p < 0.001). Mutans streptococci and lactobacilli were recovered less frequently from the Afro-Caribbe an children than from the Caucasian, but in both groups there were sig nificant correlations between the plaque and salivary levels of mutans streptococci and caries experience. In both groups, children from who m both mutans streptococci and lactobacilli were isolated had the grea test mean dmft scores and these were not significantly different. Mult iple regression analyses demonstrated that, after controlling for age and dmft, there were still significant associations between race and s alivary levels of mutans streptococci and lactobacilli, p = 0.0013 and p = 0.0167, respectively. These data indicate that Afro-Caribbean chi ldren had lower levels of dental caries than Caucasian children living in the same London boroughs and attending the same preschool care fac ilities and, after controlling for age and caries experience, they als o had lower salivary levels of mutans streptococci and lactobacilli. ( C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.