[Variability and correlations of missing and decayed teeth in Sicillian adolescent grouped by age and sex]

Overall and individual tooth morbidity were assessed in relation to mouth section, age and sex in 1,761 poor Sicilian adolescents aged 14 to 20 yr with decayed teeth or teeth extracted for decay. Statistical assessment of the findings in the upper and lower arch was undertaken in a search for related differences (increases or decreases) in the number of decayed or extracted teeth in each arch. The dependence on differences between one area and another on the variables considered was also examined in terms of their statistical significance. No sex-based difference emerged. The frequency of decay or extraction was usually a function of position. Both the upper and lower right or left 6th teeth (i.e. those in the middle position) were most commonly affected in males and females. Use was thus made of Vianelli's index in determination of the statistical asymmetry of teeth decayed or extracted on either side of the 6th.