Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #119631

Martin Tickle, Dr, Dental School, Manchester University, Higher Cambridge Street, Manchester, PR7 4DN, United Kingdom, 0161 275 6610, martin.tickle@manchester.ac.uk

Nationally coordinated surveys of 5-year-old children In England demonstrate that the care index is approximately 12 percent. The evidence base to inform the clinical care of young children is poor and little is known about how General Dental Practitioners, who are responsible for the majority of care provided to children in England, approach the restoration of carious primary teeth. A longitudinal cohort study observed the outcomes of the carious molar teeth of 677 children attending 50 dental practices. A total of 3145 teeth with a documented history of caries or restoration were included in the study. Most first (81.1 percent) and second (84.3 percent) carious primary molars were restored during their lifetime. The majority of carious primary molar teeth (88.1 percent with one surface lesions, 80.9 percent with 2-surface lesions) exfoliated naturally without symptoms. There was no difference in the proportions of teeth extracted due to pain or sepsis whether a carious tooth was restored or left unrestored, either by cavity size or by tooth type, after controlling for age when caries was first recorded. This paper describes this study and subsequent ongoing studies which aim to improve the evidence base for the restorative care of children with carious primary teeth. At the conclusion of the session, the participants will be able to: discuss the natural history of caries in primary teeth; prioritize outcome measures to measure the effectiveness of restorative care for young children; and evaluate study designs to measure the effectiveness of restorative care for young children.

Learning Objectives: