Is there not a strong relationship nowadays between caries and consumption of sweets?

Abstract

The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between the consumption of sweets in the preceding three years and the occurrence of proximal caries in the posterior regions of 15-year-old schoolchildren. Information on proximal restorations, excluding the mesial surface of the 1st molar, was obtained from records of about 1,700 children. Thirty children with 0-2 restorations and another 30 with 6-8 were randomly selected, together with the 22 children who had 12-14 restorations. Later, recent bitewing radiographs were used to register the total number of DF surfaces in the relevant regions. The children were interviewed about average consumption of sweets: amount, money spent and frequency. The subjects were cross-tabulated according to the variables amount and frequency. The dependence of cost on each of these variables was found to be statistically significant. Combinations were constructed to give three consumption classes. The mean values of DF surfaces for the three classes appeared in a logical order but, owing to a wide dispersion around the means, the correlation between individual DF surfaces and consumption of sweets was statistically not significant. It was concluded that nowadays the consumption of sweets does not seem to be as strong a factor for the occurrence of caries as it used to be.