Caries prevalence 1987-1998 in 12-year-olds in France

Objective: To describe caries morbidity in 12-year-old French schoolchildren 1987-1998. Materials and methods: Three cross-sectional surveys from the WHO Global Oral Data Bank that were conducted at national level in France in 1987, 1993, 1998. The surveys involved a representative sample of 1,000 12-year old children in 1987, 1,331 in 1993, and 6,000 in 1998. Results: An important decline of the caries focused in the first period - 22.8% vs. 4.5% in the period 1993-1998. All components in the DMFT Index decreased although they followed different patterns. The mean number of filled teeth consistently dropped over the entire 11 years in a context where the mean number of untreated carious teeth reached its lowest point in 1993 and increased thereafter. The four first molars accounted for the vast majority of the caries, 73.7% in 1998. In 1998 year, 44.9% of children had caries-free first molars as opposed to 38.8% in 1993 and 14.0% in 1987. Conclusion: The influence of this caries evolution on the oral health system is discussed. Suggestions are advanced to integrate dentistry in a public health concept especially focused on the reduction of inequality.