278 - Association of Primary Teeth Contact Type and Caries in Children

Title: Association of Primary Teeth Contact Type and Caries in Children Jaafar A, Hsu KL, Dhar V, (University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD)

Purpose: The goal for this study was to investigate the association of type of primary molar interproximal contact and interproximal caries risk in primary teeth and compare it to other common risk factors such as plaque level, fluoride exposure and dietary habit.

Method: Clinical examination was completed on healthy children 3 to 10 years of age. Interproximal contact of primary molars was recorded and categorized into 4 types: O, X, I, S. Other information was collected including clinical caries, plaque level, fluoride exposure and dietary habit.

Results: A total of 8 participant were included. The percentage of male and female patients were (75 %) and (25%), respectively. dmft index recorded for each patient the maximum dmft score was 13 and the minimum score was 0. The maximum score found in dt, mt and ft components of the index were 12, 7 and 4 respectively. Examination of type of contact revealed four cases of S type (50%), three cases of I type (37.5%) and X type in one case (12.5%). A total of 6 cases showed presence of caries of which four cases have S type contact.

Conclusion: This is preliminary data from an ongoing study and due to sample size limitation, no conclusion could be drawn.