Occurence and distribution of caries in 6-year-old children in Blekinge, Sweden

Community dentistry in Blekinge aims at age-specific levels of dental healt h. For 6-year-old children the goal is that >65 percent will have dmft = 0 in the year 2000. At present there is no study on dental health in 6-year-o lds in Blekinge. The aims of the present study are to establish baseline epidemiological dat a on dental caries in the county of Blekinge, expressed as dentin lesions a nd enamel lesions, to analyse these data and to formulate program oriented planning of dental care for pre-school children to achieve the dental healt h goal for the year 2000. The material comprised a random sample of 213 children. The sample was draw n from the population register for children living in the county of Bleking e. A clinical investigation was performed by one of the authers and was com pleted with bite-wing radiographs whenever the proximal surface could not b e inspected clinically. In addition the parents were asked questions about tooth-brushing and use of fluoride tablets. Fifty-six percent of the children had filled lesions and manifest lesions ( dfs), 65 percent had enamel caries lesions (dsi) and 42 percent had manifes t lesions (ds). Fifty-three percent had dmft >0. The finding of initial les ions in 65 percent of the children indicates that caries prevalence is grea tly underestimated. Together with poor oral hygiene, this means an increase in the risk of caries progression. The pattern of dental health was very skewed among the children; 23 percent had between 5 and fourteen decayed or filled teeth and 11 percent had from 5 to 23 manifest lesions. Clinics in Blekinge have had different strategie s for preventive dental care. In 1997, however, all the public dental servi ce clinics in Blekinge, adopted a uniform program for child dental care, fo cusing on primary prevention and risk assessment for each individual.