Dental caries is a infectious microbiologic disease of the tooth that results in localized dissolution and destruction of calcified tissues. Its seen in all age groups, few preventive agents have been evaluated to prevent the caries. Xylitol, a polysugar, obtained from birch tree has been shown to reduce dental caries when mixed with food, chewing gums and milk. Dental caries are prevalent in a...

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Dental caries in infants and young children is prevalent worldwide; its magnitude and associated factors vary between communities because of cultural and social economic differences. No such information was available for pre-school children in Mbeya city. PURPOSE To determine dental caries status and associated factors in 2 to 4-year-old children in Mbeya city. MATE...

Dental caries is a highly prevalent chronic disease and its consequences cause a lot of pain and suffering. Sugars, particularly sucrose, are the most important dietary aetiological cause of caries. Both the frequency of consumption and total amount of sugars is important in the aetiology of caries. The evidence establishing sugars as an aetiological factor in dental caries is overwhelming. The...

The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between vitamin D status and dental caries in Canadian school-aged children participating in the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS). The CHMS was a national cross-sectional study involving physical assessments, laboratory analysis, and interviews. Analysis was restricted to data for 1,017 children 6 to 11 y of age. Outcome variables i...

The antimicrobial use of silver compounds pivots on the 100-year-old application of silver nitrate, silver foil, and silver sutures for the prevention and treatment of ocular, surgical, and dental infections. Ag(+) kills pathogenic organisms at concentrations of <50 ppm, and current/potential anti-infective applications include: acute burn coverings, catheter linings, water purification systems...

Dental caries is an infectious microbiologic disease of the teeth that results in localized dissolution and destruction of the calcified tissue. Dental caries is a mulitifactorial disease, which is caused by host, agent, and environmental factors. Cariogenic micro-organisms enter the dental biofilm early in life and can subsequently emerge, under favorable environmental conditions, to cause dis...

A shift in caries prevalence from occlusal surfaces to approximal surfaces has been demonstrated by epidemiological studies. Two recent meta-analyses evaluated the performance of visual examination and radiography for carious lesion detection, and reported low sensitivity but high specificity for early approximal caries detection. This suggests that the conventional methods have a higher risk o...

BACKGROUND Asthma has been associated with a great number of negative health outcomes. This study was undertaken to detect the association between asthma and dental caries in the primary dentition. METHODS Data were obtained from a cohort of 1160 Mexican children aged 4-5 years. We used the questionnaire of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies Diseases in Childhood. Asthma was clas...

PURPOSE Reports from most industrialized countries suggest that dental caries in children has been declining over the last 50 years. However, this trend may be reversing, especially in younger children. The aim of the present study was to compare caries levels and patterns of 3- and 4-year-old Head Start children observed in 1999 with those observed in 1991. METHODS Clinical dental caries dat...

The microbial and dietary factors that drive caries have been studied scientifically for 120 years. Frequent and/or excessive sugar (especially sucrose) consumption has been ascribed a central role in caries causation, while Streptococcus mutans appeared to play the key role in metabolising sucrose to produce lactic acid, which can demineralise enamel. Many authors described caries as a transmi...