PUBLIC HEALTH.

Diseases of the oral structures are probable the most prevalent of the maladies which afflict man. During their lifetimes most persons experience some form of dental disease. Failure to receive adequate and prompt care for those conditions may result in the total loss of the natural teeth, thus disabling and disfiguring the individual. The incidence prevalence and severity of dental caries and periodontal disease are discussed are other abnormal dental condition such as cleft palate, malocclusion, and oral cancer. Much of the tabulated material is based on recent studies made by the public health service. For purposes of brevity the term DMF is frequently used throughout the chapter to indicate decayed, missing and filled teeth.

Dental Caries. Of the diseases that afflict man, dental caries decay of the teeth is of major importance because it attacks and frequently destroy the dentition early in life. Dental caries is typically a disease of modern civilized man, as evidence of the disorder is rarely seen in ancient skulls. When it did occur, it usually attacked the exposed root of the tooth rather than the enamel covered crown. It remains a relatively rare disease in some areas of the world. Surveys in remote sections of Ethiopia, Nigeria, Burma, and Vietnam have shown that a majority of persons in these populations have escaped caries attack up though the middle years of life. The opposite pattern is seen in Western civilizations where virtually every person is affected.

In the United States most children suffer one or more decayed molar teeth by the age of three. The disease continues to attack people throughout life, so long as teeth remain in the mouth. The overall

Universidad Nororiental Privada Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho

prevalence of dental caries in this Nation is almost the highest reported for any area in the world.

For the most part, prevalence data have been gathered in surveys of discrete population (not necessarily applicable to an area or a nation as a whole) or from studies of the status of dental patients (not necessarily typical for that fraction of the population which fails to apply for dental care). Hence a survey carried out by the US. Public health service during the years 1960, 1961, and 1962 is of unique value. It includes a random sample of the entire U.S. population of persons aged 18 through 79 years, and its findings may be taken as representative of the nation as a whole. The sample was structured, on an area probability basis, to include 7.710 men and woman selected so that about 160 individuals were examined in each of 42 locations throughout the nation. Of this sample 6.672 persons (86 percent) were actually seen and reported on. The examinations were carried out by five trained dentists of the National Health Examination Survey, and findings have been released through the National Center for Health Statistics.

Universidad Nororiental Privada Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho