Is caries prevalence underestimated in today's caries examination? A study on 16-year-old children in the county of Bohuslän, Sweden.

When caries prevalence was higher than today incipient lesions constituted 70% of carious lesions. Incipient lesions were often neglected in caries recordings and hence the true caries prevalence was underestimated. Moreover, it has been shown that there were evident differences in caries status between different areas in the same county though the preventive measures were supposed to be the same (Moberg Sköld et al 1984). To find out if the conditions were the same when caries prevalence has decreased a total number of 240 16-year-old children were examined concerning caries in 1987 and 1990. The results showed that the caries prevalence was still underestimated. Incipient lesions constituted 80% of the total number of carious lesions which was approximately the same as when caries prevalence was higher. The difference in caries status within the country had decreased compared with the study in 1984 (Moberg Sköld et al 1984).