Dental caries experience among children with Down's syndrome

The purpose of this investigation was to determine dental caries experience among institutionalized and non-institutionalized mentally retarded children with Down's Syndrome (DS). Caries was furthermore assessed in a control group of mentally retarded individuals without DS. A total of 288 persons, 6-19 years old, were examined. The prevalence of caries free individuals was 40%. Institutionalized subjects had a lower caries prevalence than those living at home, probably as a result of differences in environment. Within all age groups, DS subjects had less caries but also fewer erupted permanent teeth than those without DS. In order to adjust for this difference, the DS subjects were compared with other mentally retarded individuals who were 1 year younger. After this correction, significantly lower caries prevalence was only found among the older age groups. When the results were analyzed on the basis of the number of teeth present and not on the number of tooth surfaces significant differences could not be found, even without the age correction. It is concluded that individuals with DS are susceptible to caries, though the prevalence of approximal caries is low, probably mainly due to the fact that DS subjects have more spacing.