Changing caries experience and risk factors in five- and six-year-old Melbourne children

Recent studies have shown a decline in the caries experience in Australian children. It has also been shown that a number of socio-demographic variables are associated with risk of caries experience. The aims of the present study were to identify changes in caries experience and the association of socio-demographic variables with risk of caries experience in five- and six-year-old children over the period 1977 to 1985. In 1985, a sample of 174 children resident in the municipality of Brunswick, a suburb of Melbourne, was examined. A similar sample was drawn from the same area in 1977. The percentage of children caries-free had greatly increased, while caries experience had decreased. Parental birthplace, occupation and ethnicity were associated with caries experience in 1977 and were used to control for socio-demographic changes in the samples between the two survey times. In 1985 exposure to water fluoridation was also associated with caries experience. The study highlighted the improvement in dental health of five- and six-year-old children in Melbourne since 1977 and the consistency of associations between socio-demographic variables and 'at risk' children.