APPROXIMAL CARIES AND SUGAR CONSUMPTION IN ICELANDIC TEENAGERS

The aim of this study, conducted in 1994, was to examine the associati on between approximal caries and sugar consumption in teenagers residi ng in three fluoride-deficient areas in Iceland while controlling for a number of behavioral, residential and microbiological factors. One h undred and fifty subjects (mean age 14 years) selected from the Icelan dic Nutritional Survey (INS) were examined radiographically and they c ompleted questionnaires about sugar consumption frequency. Total grams of sugar intake were obtained from the INS for each subject. Caries e xperience on approximal surfaces, diagnosed from radiographs, was used as the dependent variable in the analyses. Altogether 45.2% of subjec ts were caries free on approximal surfaces. The overall sample was fou nd to have a mean DFS on approximal surfaces of 2.73 (s=4.36) per subj ect. Average daily total sugar intake was 170 g per subject and the me an number of sugar-eating occasions between meals was 5.32 (s=6.29) pe r subject. The regression model indicated that the frequency of betwee n-meal sugar consumption was associated with approximal caries, with f requency of candy consumption being the most important of the sugar va riables. In multivariate analysis, no relationship was found between d ental caries and total daily intake of sugar, although a significant r elationship between total sugar consumption and presence of caries was seen in bivariate analysis. Between-meal consumption of sugar remains a risk factor for the occurrence of dental caries, especially in popu lations with moderate-to-high levels of dental caries experience.