Læknablaðið - 15.09.1980, Qupperneq 40

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LÆKNABLADID
skólum eöa heimilum barnanna. Ennfremur
virðist kaupstaðabörnum auðvelt að afla sér
fjár til sætindakaupa, annað hvort sem laun
fyrir, sendiferðir fyrir ættingja og vini eða
dagblaðasölu. Ýkjalaust má telja, að langflest
kaupstaðabörn neyti sætinda, að minnsta
kosti, tvisvar á dag.
Enn er petta ástand allt annað í sveitahéruð-
unum. Flest sveitabörn hafa mjög takmörkuð
tækifæri til pess að afla sér eigin fjár og eyða
pví til sætindakaupa. Líklega neyta sveitabörn
sætinda utan heimilisins ekki ýkja oftar en
einu- til tvisvar sinnum í mánuði, eða pegar
innkaupaferðir eru gerðar í næsta kaupstað.
Sætindaát milli mála hefur lengi verið talið
ein höfuðorsök tannskemmda, og er talið að
eftirfarandi atriði hafi mikil áhrif á tíðni
tannskemmda: (1) hve oft sætinda er neytt á
milli mála, (2) viðloðun sælgætisins við tenn-
urnar, og (3) neysla alls kyns sambanda hveitis
og sykurs (vínarbrauð og kex) á milli mála (1).
Uppáhalds sætindi íslenskra barna virðast
vera karamellur, súkkulaðikex og sætar kökur,
p.e.a.s. sætindi, sem talin eru sérstaklega hættu-
leg tönnunum. Enginn svæðamismunur virð-
ist vera á sætindasmekk íslenskra barna, en
tíðni sykurneyslu er, án efa, mikið hærri meðal
kaupstaðabarna en á meðal sveitabarna og er
líklegasta skýringin á orsök meiri tann-
skemmda í kaupstaðabörnum.
Tannlæknarnir Ingjaldur Bogason, Jón K. Hafstein, Páll
Jónsson og Sverrir Einarsson voru mjög hjálplegir við
undirbúning rannsóknarinnar og er framlag peirra ómetan-
legt. Einnig veittu skólastjórar og kennarar skólanna, par
sem flest börnin voru skoðuð, aðstoð sína í hvívetna.
Kostnaður við framkvæmd rannsóknarinnar og úrvinnslu
gagna var, að mestu leyti, greiddur með styrkjum, sem
greinarhöfundi var veitt úr Vísindasjóði Islands.
SUMMARY
This is the first of two reports on a clinical study of
dental caries in 6-14 year old lcelandic children. A
total of 795 children participated in the study, 395
boys and 400 girls. Two- thirds of the children
resided in urban centers while one-third of the
children lived in a rural area. The children were
carefully examined by the same individual utilizing a
good light-source, mouth mirrors and explorers, and
a record made of the condition of the children’s
primary and permanent teeth.
The frequency of decayed primary teeth was very
high. In the 6-8 year old children approximately
one-third of all primary teeth present had carious
lesions, and among the 9-11 year olds more than
50 % of a11 primary teeth present were decayed
teeth. The mean of filled primary teeth was only
0.55, or less, per child.
The frequency of caries in the permanent teeth
was rather high. The DMF-T rate ranged from 1.3
per child in six year olds to 12.5 per child in 14 year
old children, with an average rate of 5.8 in the study
population. In the 12-14 year old children approxi-
mately one-third of the DMF-T consisted of decay-
ed teeth, while over 50% of the DMF-T were
decayed teeth in the 6-11 year olds. Approximately
50 % of the children had caries-free permanent
teeth at age six, but this percentage declined to 22.5
in seven year old children and had reached 2.2 for 14
year olds.
A comparison of caries frequency in urban
children and rural children revealed a considerable
higher frequency among urban children. This higher
urban rate was evident in both primary and
permanent teeth and was statistically significant.
The much more frequent indulgence in between-
snacks of highly cariogenic sweet among urban
children than rural children was considered to be
the main reason for the higher caries rate among
the urbanites.
ln a forthcoming report the cost of supplying
dental services for 6-14 year old Icelanders will be
estimated and possible preventive measures discus-
sed.
HEIMILDIR
1. Bibby, B. G. The cariogenicity of snack foods
and confections. J. Am. Dent. Assoc. 90: 121-132,
1975.
2. Dunbar, J. B., Möller, P. & Wolff, A. E. A survey
of dental caries in lceland. Archs. Oral Biol. 13:
571-581, 1968.
3. Dunbar, J. B., Wolff, A. E„ Volker, J. F. & Möller,
P. Survey of human periodontal disease in
lceland. Archs. Oral Biol. 13:387-405, 1968.
4. Hargreaves, J. A. Changes in diet and dental
health of children living in the Scottish island of
Lewis. Caries Res. 6: 355-376, 1972.
5. Jackson, D. Measuring restorative dental care in
communities. J. Brit. Dent. 134: 385-388, 1973.
6. Lind, O. Caries epidemiologisk status blandt 7-
15 aarige i en Landkommune uden organisieret
börnetandpleje. Tannlaegebladet. 75: 861-882,
1971.
7. Magnusson, Þ. E. An epidemiologic study of
occlusal anomalies in relation to development
of the dentition in lcelandic children. Communi-
ty Dent. Oral Epidemiol.4: 121-128, 1976.
8. Magnusson, P. E. Prevalence of hypodontia and
malformations of permanent teeth in lceland.
Community Dent. Oral Epidemiol. 5: 173-178,
1977.
9. Magnusson, Þ. E. An Epidemiologic study of
dental space anomalies in Icelandic school
children. Community Dent. Oral Epidemiol. 5:
292-300, 1977.