Dental caries in 12-year-old urban and rural children in Zimbabwe.

608 12-yr-old children in Harare, and 556 in rural areas of Mashonaland and Central Province, Zimbabwe, were examined for dental caries in 1985. 27.6% of children in the urban area, and 20.9% in the rural, had caries (P less than 0.01). The mean DMFT in urban and rural areas was 0.57 (+/- 1.13) and 0.49 (+/- 1.42), respectively (P = 0.29). Girls had higher levels of caries than boys. Most of the caries occurred on occlusal surfaces, and first molars were the most affected of all teeth. Caries experience was similar to that reported 10 yr previously in Zimbabwe, and similar to that found recently in 12-yr-olds in Kenya and Tanzania. The authors question whether in fact developing countries having high or increasing levels of caries in 12-yr-olds constitute the exception or the rule with regard to trends in dental caries prevalence.