The dental health of 3-year-old children in east Cumbria 1993.

A study of the dental health of 135 3-year-old children, with reference to social class group, was undertaken in East Cumbria District between September and December 1993. Caries free subjects numbered 110 (81.5 per cent), the mean number of decayed, missing, and filled teeth was 0.59; the value of the decayed component of the dmft index was 0.49. Caries experience was confined to 25 (18.5 per cent) individuals whose mean dmft was 3.20, seven of these subjects experienced rampant decay to the maxillary incisor teeth and three had received a dental general anaesthetic. An inverse relationship was demonstrated between dental caries and social class. Trauma to the maxillary incisors had occurred in 17 (12.6 per cent) children, with discolouration and fracture of the enamel and dentine the most prevalent types of injuries sustained. A relatively high proportion of the subjects, 39 (28.9 per cent), had experienced erosion to palatal surfaces of the maxillary incisors. The most prevalent type of erosion was that involving both enamel and dentine. Only 14 (10.4 per cent) children examined used fluoride supplements in this low-fluoride area; 98 (72.6 per cent) subjects reported registration with a dentist.