Prevalence of mutans streptococci in one-year-old children

Colonization with mutans streptococci was studied in 1095 1-year-old children living in suburban Stockholm. During a scheduled vaccination appointment at a child health centre, a bacterial sample was obtained from the child's tongue and a structured questionnaire was completed by the accompanying parent. Six percent of the subjects were colonized with mutans streptococci. The variables most strongly correlated with presence of mutans streptococci were: non-Swedish background, consumption of sugar-containing beverages at night and total consumption of sugar-containing beverages. The results indicate that, by the age of 1 year, maternally influenced behaviour patterns such as dietary habits that may predispose to early colonization of mutans streptococci are already established. Such early colonization with mutans streptococci may predict high caries risk in the primary dentition.