Trends in untreated caries in primary teeth of children 2 to 10 years old

Background. This article is the second in a series of three that focus on r ecent changes in the caries status of children and adolescents in the Unite d States. Methods. This study is based on analyses of data regarding untreated cariou s primary teeth among children 2 to 10 years of age from the first and thir d National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, or NHANES I and NHANES III. The NHANES is conducted periodically by the National Center for Healt h Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Results. Overall, the number of carious primary teeth among children 2 to 1 0 years old decreased from 1.42 as measured in NHANES I to 0.63 as measured in NHANES III. The number of carious primary teeth in children 2 to 10 yea rs old also decreased across four demographic variables: age, sex, race and poverty level. Conclusions. The number of untreated carious primary teeth among children h as declined. Since the 1970s, the absolute difference in untreated caries b etween disadvantaged children in the United States and the rest of the U.S. child population has narrowed, although not to the same extent as in perma nent teeth. Practice Implications. On average, children of preschool and elementary-sch ool age have less untreated caries than in the past. More often, dentists d o not need to treat on a first visit. This provides more opportunity to int roduce these children to preventive dentistry at an early age.