Objective: To examine the changes over a decade in caries experience amongst children aged 4-5 years living in a deprived multiethnic community in the United Kingdom.
Design: Cross-sectional surveys.
Setting: Schools and nurseries in the Old Trafford area, Manchester, England, 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1998.
Main outcome measures: Mean dmft, oral cleanliness and proportion of children with rampant caries.
Results: The unadjusted Odds Ratio for caries free children examined in 1998 compared with children examined prior to 1998, was only significant amongst the white group. White children examined in 1998 were over three times more likely to be caries free than white children examined previously. South Asian children whose mothers were non English speaking examined in 1998 were almost twice as likely to have good/fair oral cleanliness than those examined prior to 1998. Moreover, South Asian children whose mothers were non-English speaking in 1998 were over three times more likely not to have rampant caries than their counterparts in the earlier years.
Conclusion: There were significant improvements in caries and oral health amongst white children over the decade, and although less marked these were mirrored amongst South Asian children.