DECAY OF THE DECIDUOUS TEETH OF FORMOSA CHINESE. AN ANALYTICAL SUMMARY AND INTERPRETATION OF CERTAIN STATISTICS PUBLISHED BY MARUYAMA

¹ Department of Operative Dentistry, College of Dentistry, University of Illinois, Chicago, Ill.

1. Virtually complete lack of medical and dental services for children in the Far East makes statistical surveys of health conditions in this region particularly informative.

2. Rapid growth of the masticatory organs of children may favor the development of necrosis of the enamel and dentin of deciduous teeth. Conversely, slow dental maturation tends to be associated with freedom from caries in early childhood.

3. It is not possible to explain the higher frequencies of decay of the deciduous teeth of early eruptors on the basis of longer periods of mouth exposure.

4. The apparent relationship between growth and dental disease is readily demonstrable only in racially homogeneous groups. The genetics of man is still too poorly known to permit free comparison of dissimilar or markedly heterogeneous ethnic groups.

5. It would be illogical to maintain that decay of the deciduous teeth may accelerate the eruption of their permanent successors.