INCIDENCE OF DENTAL CARIES, GINGIVITIS, AND MALOCCLUSION IN CHICAGO CHILDREN (14 TO 17 YEARS OF AGE)

¹ University of Oregon Dental School, Portland, Ore.

Incidence of gingivitis, dental caries, and malocclusion in 2,774 children 14 to 17 years of age is reported. The average amount of gingivitis was approximately 2.2 papillae, 1.8 margins, or a total of 4.0 P-M-A gingival units, affected per child. There was no change in gingivitis with age. A total of 98.2 per cent of the children had one or more decayed teeth. The average amount of dental caries was 9.8 DMF teeth or 19.0 DMF tooth surfaces. Girls had a higher and statistically significant incidence of dental caries as compared to boys. A total of 77.2 per cent of the children had malocclusion, the average child having 10.5 maloccluded teeth. There was no significant difference in the incidence of malocclusion between boys and girls. The variation in incidence of the 3 diseases between 14 to 17 years of age is discussed.