Maxillary anterior caries associated with increased caries risk in other primary teeth

It has been suggested that children with caries of maxillary anterior primary teeth may have increased caries incidence in other teeth. This study aimed to quantify the extent of posterior dental caries in those children who initially presented with maxillary anterior caries compared with that of those who did not. Data were collected for 217 Head Start children participating in a one-year study to determine caries risk factors. Tooth surfaces were recorded as carious, restored, or extracted (missing due to caries). Caries was then categorized into the following pattern(s): maxillary anterior (MA), pit/fissure (PF), posterior proximal (PP), and posterior buccal/lingual smooth surface (BL). Compared with children who did not initially present with the maxillary anterior pattern, those with the maxillary anterior pattern had 2.5 times (p < 0.01) the mean number of posterior decayed, missing, and filled surfaces (dmfs) and approximately 3 times the prevalence (p < 0.01) of the PP and BL patterns. The positive predictive value of the MA pattern was 86.8% for children who developed the PF pattern, and the negative predictive values were greater than 91% for children who did not develop the PP and BL patterns. The prevalence of maxillary anterior caries among children in this study is associated with a significantly greater caries incidence in posterior teeth.