Dental caries and social factors in 12-year-old South African children.

Dental caries prevalence (percentage caries-free) and experience (DMFS) were recorded, in 414 12-yr-old Indian and 401 white children living in adjacent urban communities with the same fluoride concentration in the drinking water (0.21-0.33 ppm) using WHO (11) criteria. Details of social factors: education level, family income, home space and occupants and parental occupation were obtained by questionnaire. Dental caries was significantly worse in the Indian children with regard to numbers caries-free (30%--white and 40%--Indian) and DMFS mean (sd) (3.65 (3.98) and 2.66 (3.49) working group, respectively). Social class, white or blue collar, family income and room to person ratio were significantly associated with dental caries in the white children but there were no significant associations in the Indian children. Multiple regression analysis showed race and sex to be significant factors.