Dental caries at five and twelve years in a South African Indian community: a longitudinal study.

In 1979, 515 of 767 available Indian children born in Lenasia in 1974 were examined and their dental caries status was described. In 1986, 515 of the original 715 were re-examined in order to determine the pattern of dental caries in the primary and permanent dentitions of the same individuals. In contrast to studies in the literature in which treatment records have been used, both investigations were formal epidemiological field studies using calibrated examiners and WHO (1971) caries diagnostic criteria. A firm association was found between caries in the primary and permanent dentitions (r = 0.34).