Comparisons of caries prevalence of children with different daily toothbrushing frequencies

Clinical caries examinations, supplemented by bite-wing radiographs, were conducted on 290 schoolchildren. The children ranged from 12 to 15 years of age and were residents of a fluoride-deficient community in New York State. The children were divided into two groups based upon their stated daily toothbrushing frequency, namely, those brushing once or less/day and those brushing twice or more/day. Mean DMFS and DMFT scores were recorded for children in both categories. A trend was noted that more frequent brushing was associated with less caries activity. For females and male-females combined the differences in mean DMFS and DMFT scores between those children brushing once a day or less. The caries scores for males in these two brushing groups were marginally significant (P less than .05). Ninety percent of the children used fluoride-containing dentifrices. The inverse relationship between brushing frequency and caries activity may be related to the more frequent fluoride contact when the children brush.