Tooth brushing habit and caries increment in nursery school children.

Abstract

To clarify whether daily tooth brushing prevents the dental caries of deciduous teeth in a longitudinal study, the relations between caries increment over a 2-year period, tooth brushing habits such as the frequency of tooth brushing and the help of parents in children's tooth brushing, and oral cleanliness were statistically analyzed in 576 nursery school children initially aged 1 to 3 years.The children with continuously good tooth brushing habits had smaller mean dmft increment and mean Debris Score than those with continuously poor tooth brushing habits during the study period and the differences were often significant. The children with good oral cleanliness also showed a constantly smaller mean dmft increment than those with poor oral cleanliness.With respect to the effect of parents' assistance, no significant differences in dmft increment and oral cleanliness were found between the children who were helped by their parents and those who brushed by themselves.Consequently, it is concluded that continuing good tooth brushing habits produce good oral cleanliness and the reduction of caries increment and that the help of parents in tooth brushing does not reduce the dental caries of young children.