CARIES EXPERIENCE OF NATIVE CHILDREN OF BRITISH-COLUMBIA, CANADA, 1980-1988

Surveys of the dental health of Native children in British Columbia, C anada, were conducted in 1980, 1984 and 1988 by Medical Services Branc h, Health and Welfare Canada. Data were gathered on children turning 5 , 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15 yr of age in each survey year. This paper analy zes the findings related to dental caries and the treatment of caries. Comparisons were made between the 1980 and 1988 surveys using Student 's t-tests, data from the 1984 survey were included for comparison. Re sults of these surveys demonstrate a continuous improvement in the den tal health of Native children between the years 1980 and 1988, but the improvement was limited to the permanent dentition. The deft for 5-yr -olds remained constant over the time interval. In contrast, the DMFT for each group significantly decreased from 1980 to 1988 (P<0.05). The percentage of 5-yr-old children who were caries-free in the primary d entition remained constant, and primary tooth mortality (tooth abscess ed or with crown destroyed) in 5-yr-olds did not change. However, the percentage of children surveyed with caries-free permanent teeth impro ved significantly at each survey year and permanent tooth mortality si gnificantly declined (P < 0.05). The proportion of filled, compared wi th carious, primary and permanent teeth increased from 1980 to 1988. I n contrast, the number of extracted primary teeth stayed relatively co nstant for 5-yr-olds, but the proportion of missing teeth declined sig nificantly for all other age groups (P < 0.05). The caries experience of this population of Native children was high relative to that of chi ldren of comparable age residing in the same region and to that of chi ldren who live in other parts of the world.