Dental Caries and Nutrition in South Vietnam

¹ National Institute of Dental Research, Bethesda, Maryland, Hospital Quinhon, Quinhon, South Vietnam, and National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland

In South Vietnam 3,700 persons were examined for caries, and a subsample received biochemical examination, in the course of an ICNND survey. Caries experience in the deciduous teeth of the children was as high as in some United States populations. Caries experience in the permanent teeth of adults was relatively low. Caries experience in both dentitions was somewhat higher in people living in the Coastal and Delta regions than in people living in the more remote Highland areas. No ethnic differences in caries susceptibility could be demonstrated. Caries scores were higher in persons with soft deposits of debris on the teeth. No true relation between nutrition and caries could be demonstrated. Of children with biochemical data, about half of those who were free of caries in the permanent dentition were deficient or low in serum vitamin A or urinary riboflavin.