Biomaterial Database

Prevalence of dental caries among children in a rural Tanzanian community. 1989

B Bloch, and J Malele, and M Tanner, and D de Savigny

The age specific prevalences of mixed caries were determined in 346 children aged 1 to 15 years in a rural community in Morogoro Region, south-eastern Tanzania. In primary dentition 58.9% of children were caries free while dmf index averages 1.08. In permanent dentition 74.3% were caries free while DMF index averaged 0.43. Permanent dentition showed a constant increase in caries prevalence with age such that over half of 15 year old children had caries experience with a DMF index of 1.2. This relatively low prevalence of caries is associated with low consumption of refined sugars. Recommendations are made to support preventive dental health services and programmes in primary schools and maternal and child health clinics.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007223	Infant	A child between 1 and 23 months of age.	Infants
D008297	Male		Males
D002648	Child	A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL.	Children
D002675	Child, Preschool	A child between the ages of 2 and 5.	Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D003731	Dental Caries	Localized destruction of the tooth surface initiated by decalcification of the enamel followed by enzymatic lysis of organic structures and leading to cavity formation. If left unchecked, the cavity may penetrate the enamel and dentin and reach the pulp.	Caries, Dental,Carious Lesions,Dental Cavities,Dental Cavity,Dental Decay,Dental White Spots,Carious Dentin,Decay, Dental,Dental White Spot,White Spot, Dental,White Spots, Dental,Carious Dentins,Carious Lesion,Cavities, Dental,Cavity, Dental,Dentin, Carious,Dentins, Carious,Lesion, Carious,Lesions, Carious,Spot, Dental White,Spots, Dental White
D004037	Diet, Cariogenic	A consistent pattern of food and drink consumption that contributes to the development and advancement of DENTAL CARIES.	Cariogenic Diet,Cariogenic Diets,Diets, Cariogenic
D004040	Dietary Carbohydrates	Carbohydrates present in food comprising digestible sugars and starches and indigestible cellulose and other dietary fibers. The former are the major source of energy. The sugars are in beet and cane sugar, fruits, honey, sweet corn, corn syrup, milk and milk products, etc.; the starches are in cereal grains, legumes (FABACEAE), tubers, etc. (From Claudio & Lagua, Nutrition and Diet Therapy Dictionary, 3d ed, p32, p277)	Carbohydrates, Dietary,Carbohydrate, Dietary,Dietary Carbohydrate
D004245	DMF Index	"Decayed, missing and filled teeth," a routinely used statistical concept in dentistry.	Decayed, Missing, and Filled Teeth,DMF Indexes,DMF Indexe,DMF Indices,Index, DMF,Indexe, DMF,Indexes, DMF,Indices, DMF
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man