Etiology of caries in Papua-New Guinea. Associations in soil, food and water.

Mineral analyses of garden soils, vegetables, and water samples from 21 villages in the Sepik and Fly River regions of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea, in which the mean prevalence of dental caries ranged from 0 to 29.5% decayed teeth per person, have shown the following relationships between variations in the caries prevalence and the amounts of certain elements:(1) A strong inverse association with concentrations of alkali and alkaline earth elements, especially strontium, barium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and lithium, in garden soils.(2) A possible direct association with concentrations of lead and copper in village garden soils.(3) Consistent evidence of inverse associations with concentrations of vanadium, molybdenum, manganese, aluminium, titanium, and phosphorus and of direct associations with concentrations of lead, copper, chromium, zinc, and selenium in the staple foodstuffs-namely, sago, sweet potato, and Chinese taro.In general, analyses of soils and vegetables from 22 villages in the highlands of Papua-New Guinea have confirmed the soil associations with the caries prevalence reported for villages in the Sepik and Fly River regions.