Longitudinal evaluation of caries patterns form the primary to the mixed dentition.

The purpose of this study was to develop a model describing the sites and patterns of dental caries in the mixed dentition for children with one of five caries experiences in the primary dentition. Dental records were used from 317 children followed an average of 7.8 years in private pediatric dental offices to assess specific caries experiences in children from early primary dentition to middle or late mixed dentition. Eighty-four per cent of the children who were caries-free in the primary dentition remained so in the mixed dentition. Children with the pit and fissure caries pattern in the primary dentition were more likely to develop smooth surface caries of primary teeth in the mixed dentition (32%) than caries-free children (14%, X2 = 5.6;P less than 0.05). For children with molar-approximal lesions in the primary dentition, 57% developed lesions on additional molar-approximal surfaces in the primary teeth in the mixed dentition. Children with the faciolingual pattern (baby bottle tooth decay) were at the highest risk of any group for developing additional carious lesions. The model could serve as a basis for a prospective study.