[Caries epidemiological study of school children of Rems-Murr area]

An epidemiological study on caries in 1,091 primary school pupils in the Rems-Murr area revealed improvement in oral health as compared with results of earlier studies in the Federal Republic of Germany. For example, 31.4% of first-form pupils and 16.1% of fourth-form pupils were shown to have naturally healthy teeth (DMF-T + dmf-t = 0). The average DMF-T(S) values were between 0.39 (0.5) for six-year-olds and 2.02 (2.74) for ten-year-olds. The average percent of treated permanent teeth in six (ten)-year-old pupils was determined to be 20.5 (46.5)%. The pronounced polarisation of the individual values is, however, of of ater significance in developing programmes for caries prophylaxis than are these average values: Only 22% of the children accounted for approx. 70% of the carious, missing or filled permanent teeth. Carious defects in the permanent teeth of six and seven-year-old pupils were found almost exclusively in the fissures and pits of the six-year molars. An improvement in the oral health of the above-named age groups can only be achieved by means of specific and individual prophylaxis programmes.