Dental caries and related factors--a longitudinal study of Finnish immigrant children in the north of Sweden.

Abstract

In this study the development of dental caries was observed in Finnish immigrant children between 5 and 8 years of age. Baseline variables that could predict caries were identified. Dental health in this group of Finnish immigrant children was already very poor at the age of 5 and deteriorated further up to 8 years of age, when only 4% of the children were caries free. In the last three years, 48% had participated in an individualized prevention programme (average 0.6 hours). Using the parents' dental status as a predictor gave a higher percentage of correct classifications than the use of dmfs.