DENTAL-CARIES PREVALENCE AND TREATMENT LEVELS IN ARIZONA PRESCHOOL-CHILDREN

Objectives. To assess the prevalence of dental caries in a large group of preschool children, to determine the extent to which the children received dental treatment, to examine the association between demograp hic and socioeconomic factors and the prevalence of caries, and to com pare these findings with those from previous studies of preschool popu lations in the United States. Methods. Dental caries exams were perfor med on 5171 children ages 5 months through 4 years, and a parent or ot her caregiver was asked to complete a questionnaire giving information about the child and her or his household. The children were recruited from Head Start programs; Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutritio n programs; health fairs; and day care centers in a representative sam ple of Arizona communities with populations of more than 1000 people. Results, Of the 994 one-year-old children examined, 6.4% had caries, w ith a mean dmft (decayed, missing [extracted due to caries], and fille d teeth) score of 0.18. Nearly 20% of-the 2-year-olds had caries, with a mean dmft of 0.70. Thirty-live percent of the 3-year-olds had carie s, with a mean dmft of 1.35, and 49% of the 4-year-olds had caries, wi th a mean dmft of 2.36. Children whose caregivers fell into the lowest education category had a mean dmft score three times higher than thos e with caregivers in the highest education category. Children with car egivers in the lowest income category had a mean dmft score four times higher than those with caregivers in the highest category. Children y ounger than age 3 had little evidence of dental treatment, and most of the children with caries in each age group had no filled or extracted teeth. Conclusions. The data show that dental caries is highly preval ent in this preschool population, with little of the disease being tre ated. Timing of diagnostic examinations and prevention strategies for preschool children need to be reconsidered, especially for children id entified as having a high risk of caries.