Biomaterial Database

The dental health of 3-year-old children in east Cumbria 1993. 1995

S G Jones, and J H Nunn

North Lakeland Healthcare, Carlisle, UK.

A study of the dental health of 135 3-year-old children, with reference to social class group, was undertaken in East Cumbria District between September and December 1993. Caries free subjects numbered 110 (81.5 per cent), the mean number of decayed, missing, and filled teeth was 0.59; the value of the decayed component of the dmft index was 0.49. Caries experience was confined to 25 (18.5 per cent) individuals whose mean dmft was 3.20, seven of these subjects experienced rampant decay to the maxillary incisor teeth and three had received a dental general anaesthetic. An inverse relationship was demonstrated between dental caries and social class. Trauma to the maxillary incisors had occurred in 17 (12.6 per cent) children, with discolouration and fracture of the enamel and dentine the most prevalent types of injuries sustained. A relatively high proportion of the subjects, 39 (28.9 per cent), had experienced erosion to palatal surfaces of the maxillary incisors. The most prevalent type of erosion was that involving both enamel and dentine. Only 14 (10.4 per cent) children examined used fluoride supplements in this low-fluoride area; 98 (72.6 per cent) subjects reported registration with a dentist.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007180	Incisor	Any of the eight frontal teeth (four maxillary and four mandibular) having a sharp incisal edge for cutting food and a single root, which occurs in man both as a deciduous and a permanent tooth. (Jablonski, Dictionary of Dentistry, 1992, p820)	Incisors
D008297	Male		Males
D008437	Maxilla	One of a pair of irregularly shaped bones that form the upper jaw. A maxillary bone provides tooth sockets for the superior teeth, forms part of the ORBIT, and contains the MAXILLARY SINUS.	Maxillae,Maxillary Bone,Bone, Maxillary,Bones, Maxillary,Maxillary Bones,Maxillas
D002327	Cariostatic Agents	Substances that inhibit or arrest DENTAL CARIES formation. (Boucher's Clinical Dental Terminology, 4th ed)	Cariostatic Effect,Cariostatic Effects,Agent, Cariostatic,Agents, Cariostatic,Cariostatic Agent,Effect, Cariostatic,Effects, Cariostatic
D002675	Child, Preschool	A child between the ages of 2 and 5.	Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D003729	Dental Care	The total of dental diagnostic, preventive, and restorative services provided to meet the needs of a patient (from Illustrated Dictionary of Dentistry, 1982).	Care, Dental
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
D003743	Dental Enamel	A hard thin translucent layer of calcified substance which envelops and protects the dentin of the crown of the tooth. It is the hardest substance in the body and is almost entirely composed of calcium salts. Under the microscope, it is composed of thin rods (enamel prisms) held together by cementing substance, and surrounded by an enamel sheath. (From Jablonski, Dictionary of Dentistry, 1992, p286)	Enamel,Enamel Cuticle,Dental Enamels,Enamel, Dental,Enamels, Dental,Cuticle, Enamel,Cuticles, Enamel,Enamel Cuticles,Enamels
D003804	Dentin	The hard portion of the tooth surrounding the pulp, covered by enamel on the crown and cementum on the root, which is harder and denser than bone but softer than enamel, and is thus readily abraded when left unprotected. (From Jablonski, Dictionary of Dentistry, 1992)	Dentine,Dentines,Dentins
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