The caries prevalence for all children was 30%, increasing from 13% in the youngest age group to 43% among the 5- to 6-year-olds. selleck chemicals llc Non-cavitated initial lesions (WSL) were recorded in 26% of the children. Eight per cent reported a general disease that could influence caries susceptibility. The vast majority (83%) reported unfavorable dietary habits (3 intakes of sweets per day); this figure was fairly stable in the different age groups. The questionnaire revealed that 62% of the 2- to 3-year-old children were exposed to systemic or topical fluoride; this value increased to 96% among the 5- to 6-year-old children. Less than satisfactory oral hygiene was recorded in 67% of all children and 23% displayed poor oral hygiene. The saliva tests showed that less than 17% had moderate or high counts of mutans streptococci and that 26% displayed impaired buffer capacity.

The calculated caries risk is presented in Table 2. The Cariogram profiles showed that 26%, 65% and 9% of all children were assessed with high, moderate and low caries risk, respectively. To explore which of the Cariogram variables best explained the caries risk levels, multivariate linear regression analysis models were calculated for the total study group (Table 3) and for the different age groups. For the total sample, the most significant risk variables were insufficient fluoride exposure and the presence of white-spot lesions, followed by the previous caries experience. When regression analysis was performed for the different age groups, the most significant variable for the 2- to 3-year-olds was insufficient fluoride exposure (R2=0.

93, ?= 0.31, P<.001). For the 3- to 4-year-olds, the presence of dental plaque (R2=0.91, ?= 0.71, P<.001) was most prominent, while for the 4- to 5- (R2=0.89, ?= 0.163, P<.001) and 5- to 6-year-olds (R2=0.91, ?=0.2, P<.001), the presence of white-spot lesions showed the strongest association. The dmft was found to be a significant caries variable for all age groups. Table 2. Percentage distribution of caries risk as assessed by Cariogram for the total material and for the different age groups (%). Table 3. Multivariate regression analysis of Cariogram variables for all children in relation to caries risk. DISCUSSION The present study was undertaken to gain information about the caries risk profiles of 2-to 6-year-old Greek children.

This information will help in implementing and targeting preventive strategies for this population. The Cariogram is based on the interpretation of data from numerous clinical studies on adults.23 Consequently, the scoring of some of Anacetrapib the present variables was modified to fit this young age group. Two previous studies have used the Cariogram in preschool children,12,13 one of which used modified variables.12 The accounting for age is most likely a key factor explaining the validity of the Cariogram as a predictive tool in caries risk assessment models.