A 3-Year Longitudinal Caries Study of Permanent Tooth Surfaces at Risk in Finnish School Children

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Abstract
The aim of the present study was to compare semi-longitudinally the pattern of caries experience in proximal, occlusal and smooth surfaces in the dentition and individual teeth of school children and also to reveal the reduced caries activity rate in cohorts of Finnish school children. The series started with a total of 272 children in the four age-groups of 7, 10, 13 and 15 years. The children were given a standardized visualtactile examination augmented with bite-wing radiographs at intervals of 1 year ( ± 1 month) constituting a study period of 3 years. Occlusal caries started at the age of 7 and proximal and smooth-surface caries at age 13 in both boys and girls. The mesial surfaces of the first premolars and the distal surfaces of the maxillary lateral incisors decayed to the same extent as mesial and distal surfaces of the canines, but to a significantly lower extent than their contralateral proximal surfaces. In molar teeth the occlusal surface decayed first, followed by the mesial and distal surfaces whereas distal decay was fastest in mandibular premolars. Decay of the incisor teeth was most pronounced on the mesial surfaces of maxillary lateral incisors. Mandibular incisors remained mostly intact. Our findings point to the importance of the interdental area as a unit in the determination of the time of carious attack on the proximal surface of any tooth.