Dental caries and microbial and salivary conditions in Uruguayan children from two different socioeconomic areas.

Dental caries, microbial and salivary conditions, dietary habits, and socioeconomic conditions were studied in 100 12- to 13-year-old children from 2 different socioeconomic areas in Montevideo: Pocitos and Piedras Blancas. The residents of Pocitos had a higher educational level, better housing conditions, and occupations involving higher earnings than those of Piedras Blancas. The caries prevalence in the two areas was about the same, but the children in Piedras Blancas had more decayed surfaces and fewer filled surfaces than the children in Pocitos. The mean values for caries in Piedras Blancas and Pocitos were, DMFT, 4.2 and 4.2; DMFS, 8.1 and 7.8; DS, 4.7 and 2.5; and FS, 1.7 and 4.7, respectively. The differences in DS and FS were statistically significant. The frequency of sugar intake and the salivary secretion rate were similar, but the buffer capacity was significantly higher in Pocitos than in Piedras Blancas. The plaque index was the same, but the distribution of cariogenic microorganisms differed significantly. Fifty-eight per cent of the children in Piedras Blancas had more than 10(6) CFU of mutans streptococci per milliliter saliva, compared with 17% of the children in Pocitos. Similar differences were found with regard to the lactobacilli. The percentage of children with high numbers of mutans streptococci was higher in Piedras Blancas and lower in Pocitos than in previous epidemiologic studies in Scandinavia. It was, however, higher than that recently noted in Finland.