Objective: To examine changes in caries prevalence among 3 to 15-year-old adolescents.
Material and methods: Of 1582 eligible mothers, 1443 gave informed consent. Participating children and their parents were followed up continuously from 3 to 15 years of age in a pre-planned fashion and at regular intervals. Data on dental health status were obtained from 1066/1287 adolescents (82%) during regular clinical dental examinations.
Results: Dentinal untreated caries (D) was seen among more than 26% of the adolescents at 15 years of age. Altogether, 4.9 carious teeth surfaces were affected in each case (mean). Close to 18% of the adolescents (186/1066) had poor dental health (DMFT was 5 or more) and 26% (271/1066) had DMFS 5 or more.
Conclusions: Dental caries continues to constitute an increasing challenge in dental health care: any caries at 3, 5, 7, or 10 years of age was a predictor of poor dental health at 15 years of age.