[Studies on the incidence of caries in 6- to 48-month old infants]

Caries distribution was examined in 275 children aged 6-48 months in the region of Giessen. By means of a parents questionnaire we were able to get some information about the nutrition of infants, oral-hygiene and combined prophylaxis against caries and rickets. The quota of naturally healthy dentition falls from 95% (13-24 months) to 74% (25-36 months). The dft-value increases from 0.1 to 0.6 and the dfs-value from 0.1 to 0.9 at the same groups of age. The quota of healthy teeth were higher at those children, who were breast-fed for longer than 3 months and who received an over 12 months long combination of rickets and caries-prophylaxis with fluoride-/vitamin D-tablets. 1-2 year old children had only some caries-lesions at the upper-jaw-incisors. Fissure caries was first found at more than 2 years-aged children.