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Published on: February 2, 2020
Dental caries trends in primary teeth among third-grade children in Harris County, Texas
Dan D Williamson1, Sena Narendran, William G Gray
1Dental Health Services, Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services, Houston, Texas, USA. dwilliamson@entouch.net
Purpose:
The purpose of this study was to assess trends in dental caries in the primary dentition of third-grade children in suburban Harris County, Texas.
Methods:
The study populations for the 2 cross-sectional surveys consisted of 1,584 third-grade children in 1991 and 1,039 in 1998. Trained dentists collected data on decayed and filled tooth surfaces (dfs). Chi-square tests analyzed the differences in proportions of children with and without dental caries experience in 1991 and 1998 by demographic subgroups: (1) gender; (2) ethnicity; and (3) socioeconomic status (SES). Student's t test investigated the differences in mean dfs scores in subgroups.
Results:
The prevalence of caries decreased significantly from 59% to 54% between 1991 and 1998 (P = .01). The caries prevalence was lower in 1998 than 1991 in certain subgroups: 1) females; 2) Caucasians; and 3) low SES. The mean dfs score decreased significantly from 4.81 to 3.16, and lower dfs scores were seen in certain demographic subgroups between the 2 studies (P < .05). Children from a low SES had high levels of untreated caries in both studies.
Conclusions:
Despite a decline in primary teeth caries of study participants, intergroup disparities exist, emphasizing the need for preventive strategies, especially for the low SES children.
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