Abstract
Caries experience dental status, oral hygiene and salivary levels of cariogenic streptococci were examined in the 3-years study among preschool children in relation to the dynamics of caries increment and with regard to the educational level of their mothers. Mean caries increment between the second and third year of study did not differ significantly amounting to 0.3 new decayed teeth per year.Higher caries experience significantly positively correlated with the presence of dental plaque and also with the salivary levels of cariogenic streptococci.Mothers of caries free children assigned significantly higher educational level than those of children with tooth decay and on the contrary the proportion of children at need of restorative care was highest among mothers with elementary educational level.The educational level of mothers can be taken as the significant predictor of caries risk in children and as such it can be taken as one of important causes of the inequalities in oral health of children.