A dental health study of children attending dental hospitals in Rangoon and Birmingham

abstract A survey of dental conditions at the dental hospitals in Rangoon and Birmingham was carried out on children of two different ethnic groups, Burmese (n= 284) and English (n= 289). Caries experience as measured by the average dmf counts of the primary teeth was lower in the Birmingham children aged 3 to 6 years, compared with the children of the same age range in Rangoon. Though the causes for the lower caries prevalence in the primary dentition of the English children compared with the Burmese children cannot be established with certainty, it is likely that the artificial fluoridation of drinking water in the Birmingham area since December 1964- may have played a part. The DMF scores of the permanent teeth in children aged 10 to 12 years, on the other hand, were considerably lower in Rangoon than in Birmingham. It may be suggested that the lower prevalence of dental caries in the permanent dentition among the Burmese children is related to the low intake of refined carbohydrates. Gingival conditions were worse in the Burmese children and for this the lack of artificial cleansing aids and knowledge of oral hygiene procedures was probably to blame. The dietary patterns in the two populations are discussed and it is suggested that they may be relevant to some of the differences in dental conditions.