Level of caries activity and an estimate in the increase of permanent teeth caries: a three-year follow up study in preschool senior children

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine relationships between the level of caries activity in preschool senior children and the increase of dental caries 3 years after the permanent teeth erupted. A total of 1133 preschool senior children aged 5–6 years were examined yearly during 3-year duration. A Caries Activity Test (Cariostat Test) was used at the first examination of this study. The results were as follows; 1. The caries prevalence rate of the subjects was 84.1% and the mean dft was 5.89 at the first examination. 2. There was a significant relationship between the CAT score and dft at the first examination ( P < 0.001). 3. The subjects were divided into 3 risk groups by CAT score: low-risk group (20.4%), middle-risk group (43.3%) and high-risk group (36.3%). 4. Increments of DFT from 1 year to 3 years after the permanent tooth erupted for the high-risk group were more than twice for those of the low-risk group ( P < 0.001). The prevalence of the permanent tooth decay for the high-risk group was also higher than that of the low-risk group ( P < 0.001). The results showed that the usage of the CAT Test for preschool senior children was useful to predict increase in permanent teeth caries over 3-year duration.