A comparative study of oral health as related to general health, food habits and socioeconomic conditions of 4-year-old Swedish children

ABSTRACT An epidemiologic study of oral health, food habits and socioeconomic conditions of 187 randomly selected 4-year-old children was carried out in the city of Umeå in the north of Sweden. The findings were compared with those in an investigation performed 4 years previously in the same area. The investigation showed a decrease in caries frequency from 1967 to 1971, which might be explained by the advice which had been given at Child Health Centers. The food habits had altered, in that there was less between-meal consumption, particularly of sweets, buns, cakes and soft drinks. Also, increased consumption of fluoride tablets was noted. Multiple regression analyses confirmed the findings of the 1967 study, namely that a high frequency of sweets consumption was positively correlated with caries indexes and that children of parents with a higher educational level had lower caries indexes. It was also found that the Gingival Index was affected by the frequency of consumption of buns, cakes and soft drinks and by a high number of contacts between the teeth.