A Comparative Study of Caries Experience in Adventist and Other Children

Abstract

A STUDY of dental diseases in Seventh Day Adventist families during 1957-59, it was noted that the children of all ages had less dental caries than normally would be expected.The children examined were at eight Adventist camps located in different parts of the United States.However, the findings did not show the usual geographic differences brought out in previous studies (1$).The children's means for decayed, missing, or filled (DMF) teeth were uniformly low.Recently Downs, Dunn, and Richie (3) re¬ ported that Adventist children in both Grand Junction and Denver, Colo., had less dental caries than other children residing in these two cities. MethodsThe present study was undertaken to investi¬ gate further the caries experience of Adventist and non-Adventist children under comparable conditions.Prince Georges and Montgomery Counties, Md., were selected principally because of the concentration of Adventists near Takoma